Articles
The voice of reason in the Middle East: Cooperation between Egypt and Turkey to promote peace and development in a volatile region
Ever since my nomination to serve as Egypt's Ambassador to Turkey, all my Egyptian friends expressed their eagerness to visit me in Ankara and take the opportunity to stop by Istanbul, or one of many Turkish Mediterranean resorts, and enjoy Turkey's exclusive geographic location and unique cultural heritage. It took me several weeks of research to discover the reasons for this extreme fascination with Turkey; a fascination which links the majority of Egyptians with Anatolia, its people and culture. The better I understood such areas of Egyptian interest in Turkey, the more I found out about new potentials to develop relations between these two great nations, and promote linkages and bridges between them.
Egyptian links with the Turkish people dates back to an age prior to the Ottoman Empire, when the Abbasids brought Turkic troops to settle in Egypt in the ninth century AD. Since then, and up until the end of Mohamed Ali Pasha's Dynasty, numerous monarchs of Turkish origin ruled Egypt. Moreover, the unfolding events of the time witnessed the immigration of numerous Turkish families to Egypt and vice versa. It was in Egypt that the first journal in the Turkish language was published in 1828 (namely al-waqa'ei almasriya). The intelligentsia of both Cairo and Istanbul equally followed political and cultural developments in each of these two great cities, which at the time were teeming with reform movements in a wide array of fields during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Contemporary Cairo is replete with examples of Turkish art and architecture, whereas the shores of the Bosphorus are home to numerous Egyptian-inspired architectural wonders such as the Egyptian obelisk and some magnificent palaces constructed by Egyptian princes and nobles, including the Khedive's palace and the Walda Pasha palace at Bebek which is currently being renovated to house the Egyptian Consulate in Istanbul.
The common history and geographical proximity of both nations on the Mediterranean, as well as the similarities between the two countries in terms of culture, population size and geographical landmass contributed to the development of similar roles played by Egypt and Turkey in the region; both countries act as connectors between different continents and civilizations.
Having similar foreign policies' objectives also contributed to consolidate cooperation between Egypt and Turkey; each of them chose the path of peace as a foundation for relations with their neighbors and sought to resolve all disputes through diplomacy, while maximising the benefits of cooperation as the best guarantor of security. Just as Egypt proposed its historic peace initiative between Arabs and Israelis more than thirty years ago, Turkey proposed during the last few years a "zero-problems policy" with its neighbors, which aimed to end all conflicts and disputes with countries in its surrounding region and beyond.
Today, Egypt and Turkey's efforts are united in trying to end the Israeli occupation of all Arab territories occupied in 1967, and establish an independent Palestinian State within these boundaries, with East Jerusalem as its capital. This common vision is to be achieved through peace negotiations which have a particular timeline and objective. They should also incorporate guarantees by the international community to stop Israel's relentless attempts to abort peace efforts through its persistence in establishing illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories including East Jerusalem; a policy which may eliminate all chances to achieve a peaceful settlement of the said conflict. Turkey also supports Egypt's efforts to achieve reconciliation between Palestinian factions including Fattah and Hamas and to put an end to the plight of the Palestinian people under occupation in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Egypt and Turkey also agree on supporting Iraq in it's preservation of its unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Turkey further supports Egypt's initiative to establish a Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone in the Middle East, and to subject all nuclear installations in the region, including Israeli nuclear facilities, to international safeguards. In turn, Egypt supports Turkish efforts to achieve a diplomatic settlement to Iran's nuclear program, such as to prevent a new war from erupting in the region, while simultaneously averting an otherwise inevitable nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
It is no coincidence that the past year witnessed four Presidential visits by Presidents Mubarak and Gul to each other's country, as well as official visits between the Chiefs of the Armed Forces of the two countries. The two ministers of foreign affairs met four times in both Cairo and Ankara, the last of which was on the margins of the OIC Darfour donors' conference convened last week in Cairo under the joint chairmanship of Egypt and Turkey. During the said conference Egypt and Turkey succeeded in securing pledges and development projects of a total value of about one billion dollars. The two countries also agreed to examine the possibility to establish joint Egyptian-Turkish projects to assist Darfour, as well as in a number of African countries.
The opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in the field of energy further represent one of the most important areas for cooperation, both bilaterally and regionally. Egypt is keen to contribute to meeting Turkey’s growing energy needs through the extension of the existing Arab pipeline that joins Egypt and Syria to reach Turkey. In doing so, Egypt will benefit from Turkeys unique location as a bridge between energy sources in the East and major energy markets in Europe, once they are linked by major oil and gas pipelines such as Nabucco, among others.
The conclusion of a free trade agreement between the two nations stimulated trade volumes to multiply more than three fold in the past three years (despite the persistent global financial crisis), reaching a value of three billion dollars in the past year. Turkish exports to Egypt constitute roughly three quarters of this amount. During the same period, hundreds of Turkish investors began contemplating setting up business in Egypt in a wide array of areas, including textiles, garments, automobiles, petrochemicals and food processing industries. Currently there are around 205 Turkish factories and enterprises in Egypt, with investments exceeding one billion dollars.
Prior to my arrival to Ankara, I had the opportunity to visit some of these joint Egyptian – Turkish enterprises and corporations in the 10th of Ramadan and 6th of October Industrial zones, located near the outskirts of Cairo. Upon touring one such factory, its Turkish owner was keen to inform me that his decision to set up business in Egypt was driven by low costs of both energy and labor, which amounted to one fifth of their costs in Turkey. The absence of trade barriers for Egyptian goods exported to Turkish, European and American markets provided a further incentive. His decision to set home on the banks of the river Nile, however, was motivated by the cultural congruence that existed between both nations. Similar to thousands of Turks and their families living in Egypt, he was eager to inform me that he never felt he was living in a foreign nation. In fact, any individual wondering into the upscale district of Rihab located in the East of Cairo will hear Turkish language spoken by numerous customers visiting its many restaurants, shops and cafes of the area, feeling that they are happily assimilated into Egyptian society. My family and I had the exact same feeling the minute we set foot in Turkey.
Rapidly developing relations present an important challenge to Egyptian and Turkish authorities in order to respond to the growing aspirations and interests of both peoples. These authorities should also inform the public in both nations of the important strides that have already been achieved in this regard. Cultural exchanges can play a major role in the attainment of such better understanding between the two peoples. Turkish soap operas aired on Egyptian television enjoy a large audience both in Egypt and the wider Arab World. They have contributed to the reintroduction of Turkish culture and values to the Arab citizen, while rectifying many of the false perceptions and underlying misunderstandings. It has subsequently led to an upsurge and growing interest in Arab tourism to Turkey, as well as a growing interest in other manifestations of Turkish culture, such as Turkish literary works. I was delighted to see most of Orhan Pamuk’s novels translated to Arabic, inasmuch as it brought me profound joy to see his Egyptian counterpart Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz’s novels translated into Turkish.
Egyptian soap operas, witnessed by millions of Arabs throughout the Arab world can be aired on Turkish television in Turkish in order to be viewed by millions of Turks. Thousands of Turkish and Egyptian students can also be granted the opportunity to study in the other’s country through exchange programs between both nations.
I would also wish to see numerous scholars from Al Azhar come to Turkey to exchange views with their Turkish counterparts on ways to present our tolerant interpretation of Islam to every corner of the globe. I further dream to see Egyptian think tanks and academic institutions meet regularly with their Turkish counterparts to study and analyze the fundamental challenges in our region and develop bilateral and regional mechanisms in order to address them. In order to be attained, all of these dreams need unrelenting and arduous work on both our parts within a spirit of mutual cooperation and partnership.
I hope that, during my tenure as the Ambassador of my country to Turkey, trade and investment levels between both sides will continue to increase exponentially. I also hope that our joint efforts will also succeed in preventing a destructive nuclear arms race from ensuing in the Middle East, as well as reaching a comprehensive and just settlement to the Arab – Israeli conflict.
The peoples of both Turkey and Egypt constitute roughly one-half of the population of the Middle East region; their unique civilizational heritage and geo-strategic location in the region and in the world also bestow on them a responsibility to promote a message of peace, understanding and cooperation for the development of both our nations and the wider region which we aspire to attain.
