How is Erdogan contributing to Turkey’s rapprochement to Egypt?

The last few months saw Turkey steadily moving towards Egypt with an aim to establish cordial diplomatic ties after a halt of unless for eight straight years.

The two countries were only a step away from enmity and now, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may have been looking for some development in this regard. The countries have not been in the worst countries for nearly a decade and Turkey has been making a few efforts to make things better but where does Ankara stand after all this? 

To have a better result, Turkey will have to focus on the President’s ideology. Erdogan is tilted towards Islamist ideology and his personal affinity with the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood is a declared terror group known for spreading violence and terror in the region. 

He is aiming for Egypt not to improve his relationship on a personal level rather improve Turkey’s position globally and have a diplomatic edge in the region. If it was all for his opinion, Egypt was never on cards but for Turkey, as a country, it is extremely essential to have other countries by its side for regional dominance. 

Many believe that Ankara has a foreign policy-dominated relationship structure but foreign policy is concerned with diplomatic developments on both ends, not just a one-sided goal structure. Presently, the way Turkey is moving seems more than just foreign policy. 

The Muslim Brotherhood is the main bone of contention between the two countries and even now, this is a huge deal for Egypt. Cairo had a long and full of violent history with the organization and Erdogan’s ideology did not help the country further. From the time Erdogan came into power, it was expected that his ideologies would create a rift between Turkey and other countries and this is what happened. 

Even now, Turkish inclination towards terror funding is not helping its position in the Middle East. Since 2002, Turkey has increased its involvement in the Middle East but that has come at the cost of strong animosity from many other nations. 

The selfishness and one-sided process of the Erdogan-led country is the reason why it is failing to form a strong diplomatic bond with other countries in the Middle East region. There have been some strict protocols with respect to terrorism in the last few years and that has made all the difference for Turkey. Now Turkey, despite its best efforts, cannot be trusted given its strong alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood.