"Rejoice Palestine! Erdogan Salahul-Din!", "Die with envy Israel! Erdogan is in the land of the Nile!" Many rhetorical phrases rang from the hearts of the Egyptian in celebration of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Egypt. It is worthy of mention that this visit has acquired symbolic meanings asserting the Turkish support for the Palestinian people and the total rejection of the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip.
Indeed a great reception befitting us Egyptians and of which Erdogan is mostly worthy! The Egyptians are deservingly impressed with the Turkish model, but the warm reception has surpassed the extent that made us feel we were on the verge of the revival of Ottoman Empire, or that Egypt is waiting for Amr Ibnul-Aas to liberate it again.
Egypt, the bearer of leaders and commanders, where does she stand from all this with her children who were always role models and ideals? Where is Egypt from the international arena while there are real issues, accurate figures, serious statistics and clear features that are all boiling down to the fact that the Turks are returning to power? This can be seen by the near and the far, by the friend and the foe! Everyone is actually placing his bets on the Turkish horse, including the Americans, Russians, Jews and Arabs.
We all know that Erdogan's visit to Egypt comes at a time when Ankara's relations with Tel Aviv is facing a severe crisis after the release of the report on the attack that befell theTurkish ship "Marmara" and the subsequent announcement of the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, about the reduction of diplomatic representation between Turkey and Israel to the degree of second Secretary and the suspension of all military agreements.
Do not forget that Turkey, which was absent from the region since a long time, is trying to re-immerge with a different type performance by attempting to use some of the central issues as tools for overcoming the obstacles and difficulties that stand in its way. By this Turkey is pulling the strings of its moderate stance on the one hand and on the other its sympathetic stance which touches on some of the public stances that welcome its policies and decisions. So at times we find Turkey standing on the side of the Israeli occupation and conducting military maneuvers with its soldiers, in addition to holding military deals with him, and at other times we see her adopting completely different stances by sending fleets to lift off the siege on Gaza which is besieged by Israel and thus resorting to neutrality.
Turkey is not just dealing with the neighboring countries now, but it also began to lend aid and assistance tomany countries in the Muslim world.Turkey is concerned with many Islamic countries that were liberated from the Soviet Union; such asKazakhstan,Uzbekistan and others by establishing strong relations with them, and by focusing on building schools and activating several productive projects there.
The question remains though; will Turkey useour Arab region asa gateway to achieve her long-lasting dream which is joining the European Union? Or is she trying to outdo the Iranian role by being the privileged partner of the peoples ofthe Arab region and strengthening their rolein front of the Americans and Europeans by achieving successeson the Arab level? All these issues are in need for very careful reading ofthe Arab and regional realities surrounding us. If there isan apparent Arab weakness in facing many issues, on top of which is the Palestinian cause,still Egypt will always be Egypt with its sons and loyal men who are protective of their home lands and their surroundings.
Anwar Esmat El-Sadat
Founders' Representative
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