ISTANBUL – ANSWER. His handshake Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the conversation between the two leaders in Qatar a few weeks ago does not seem to be enough to make the differences disappear. Turkey With Egypt.

Erdogan called the Egyptian president a “tyrant and conspirator” and, according to opposition media in a neighboring country, supported Muslim brothers with the aim of overthrowing Mr. Sisi. According to political analysts in a neighboring country, Erdogan was forced to retreat from his policy, as officials considered that because of this policy, Turkey was defeated by Hellas on the issue of maritime areas of responsibility, when Athens signed an agreement with the mighty Cairo on the definition of maritime areas of responsibility. Careful observers in the neighboring country report that President Erdogan is now referring to the Egyptian president as “Mr. Sisi.”

President Sisi’s decision yesterday to define the western boundaries of Egypt’s maritime zone of responsibility is seen as the Egyptian government’s response to Ankara and Tripoli’s statements about the invalidity of the Greco-Egyptian agreement. The Turkish media are talking about a “provocation-solution”.

Conflict of interests

However, Turkish interests conflict with those of Egypt, mainly in Libya. During the talks between officials of the ministries of the two countries, Cairo expressed dissatisfaction with Turkey’s military intervention and called for an end to the military presence of Turkish forces in the country. So far, the opposite seems to be happening: Turkey is signing additional military, energy and economic cooperation agreements with the Tripoli government.

hydrocarbons

Libya’s intention to cooperate with Turkey on hydrocarbon exploration in southern Crete is closely monitored by Cairo, which supports the rights of Athens with concrete steps and at critical moments seems to be moving closer to Greek positions.

Erdogan has argued in his interviews that if Egypt agrees with Turkey on maritime areas of responsibility, he will receive an area of ​​at least 40,000 square kilometers in relation to what he received under the agreement he concluded with Greece. . Despite Ankara’s offer, Cairo appears to be keeping its long-term interests in mind, which include influence in the Arab and Muslim world, energy partnerships and the threats it receives from Ankara. At the same time, Egypt believes that Greece is an important link with the EU. and her position was heard on many issues with the help of the Greek government. Turkey, which in recent years directly accuses the EU countries. but it is also believed that the US does not have this capability. However, Ankara’s efforts to rapprochement with Cairo are expected to continue, but with no quick results.