After years of diplomatic ice age and immediately after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s election victory, Egypt and Turkey want to improve their relations. Both countries plan to send ambassadors to the other country again, the Egyptian presidency announced. That’s what ruler Abdel Fattah al-Sisi decided together with Erdoğan when he congratulated him on his election victory.
Relations between Cairo and Ankara have been strained for years. The political dispute escalated in 2013 after the Turkish government repeatedly described the ousting of the then Islamist President Mohammed Morsi by the Egyptian army as an illegitimate “military coup”. Ambassadors from both countries were withdrawn in 2013. Both states also support different sides in the Libyan war. They also argued about suspected natural gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean.
Politically, however, the two countries have recently become closer again. Egypt’s Foreign Minister Samih Shukri visited Turkey after the devastating earthquakes in February. His Turkish colleague Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu visited Cairo in March. Çavuşoğlu said at the time that a meeting between Erdoğan and al-Sisi was also being planned.
Biden urges Sweden to join NATO
After the re-election of the Turkish President, Erdoğan also congratulated Western heads of state and government. According to US President Joe Biden, Ankara’s desire for American F-16– Fighter jets with Sweden’s NATO membership wish.
So far, Turkey has blocked the Scandinavian country from joining the defense alliance and has referred to opposition figures living in Sweden whom the government in Ankara describes as terrorists. Turkey, for its part, is trying to do this for $20 billion F-16– Purchase US-made jets. In Washington, Biden said, “He [Erdoğan] still want something about them F-16-Negotiate jets. I told him we want to deal with Sweden, so let’s do that.”
Scholz invites Erdoğan to Berlin
According to government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit, Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized in a telephone call with Erdoğan the close ties between Germany and Turkey, not least in the NATO military alliance. “Both agreed to approach the cooperation between the two governments with renewed vigour, and to agree on common priorities at an early stage.” According to Hebestreit, both sides want to work together on good development in the eastern Mediterranean, on the upcoming decisions in NATO and on Turkey’s relationship with the European Union. For this purpose, the Federal Chancellor invited Erdoğan to an inaugural visit to Berlin.
Zelensky: Strengthen security
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said in his congratulations that Ukraine and Turkey must work to strengthen security in the region, in Europe and in the world. Despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Turkey maintains close relations with Moscow and does not support the West’s sanctions against the resource superpower.
Zelensky thanked Erdoğan for personally campaigning earlier this month for a two-month extension of the agreement with Russia to ship Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea. Turkey has thus made a contribution to food security in the world, said Zelensky. Russian President Vladimir Putin also congratulated Erdoğan on the victory in a telephone call and, according to the Kremlin, spoke out in favor of expanding cooperation between the two countries.