During an interview with Qatari channel Al-Jazeera last week the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Egypt of providing support to the opposition Gulen movement, led by Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen who Ankara accuses of masterminding the failed coup attempt against Erdogan in July. “We differentiate between the Egyptian people and the administration,” he told the Qatari satellite channel. “We love the nation like it was ours and that is why we have provided support but we are against governments that come to power through coups and against the violation of freedoms,” said Erdogan. “We are the guardians of democracy and the Egyptian people will always find us close in their fight for democracy.” Mohamed Higazi, a former assistant to Egypt's foreign minister, said such statements reflect an inability to understand Egypt's regional and international weight. “Erdogan's comments reveal his lack of comprehension of Turkey's own internal political scene. His position is at odds with the positive views of his officials who have repeatedly expressed their willingness to improve ties with Egypt in the last few months,” Higazi told Al-Ahram Weekly. Professor of political science Tarek Fahmi says Erdogan is playing an old tune, and he seems determined not to change. “His comments have always conveyed a single message, that he is unwilling to recognise the regime in Egypt,” Fahmi told Al-Ahram Weekly. Fahmi pointed to the timing of Erdogan's statements - one day before 11 November, the date on which protests against the government's economic policies had been called – suggesting it sends a clear message that the Muslim Brotherhood still enjoys the Turkish president's wholehearted support. The Foreign Ministry described Erdogan's comments during the interview as a “continuation of the blundering and double standards that have characterised Turkey's policies in recent years.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid expressed his “shock” at Erdogan's representing himself as a “guardian of democracy and protector of freedoms at a time when his government is arresting hundreds of professors and media personnel and tens of parliamentary members, as well as shutting down newspapers and eliminating thousands of civil servants, army officers and judges from their jobs on the pretext of their participation in the coup”. Since the failed coup against Erdogan in July 35,000 people have been arrested and tens of thousands more - military officers, judges, teachers, civil servants and journalists - have lost their jobs in the subsequent crackdown. More than 100 journalists have been arrested and 170 media outlets, including newspapers and broadcasters, have been closed according to Turkey's Journalists' Association. Erdogan's remarks are the latest – and unlikely to be the last – in a series of comments in which Turkey's president “appears to give himself the right to act as the guardian of other states” said a diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity. Last month Erdogan said in an interview that Turkey can only normalise relations with Egypt if Mohamed Morsi and his allies are released from prison. He claimed the Egyptian government came to power as the result of a military coup that overthrew a democratically-elected predecessor. Fahmi argues that it is better not to respond to Erdogan's repeated criticisms of Egypt. “His discourse against Egypt is repetitive and predictable. Any response lends it more credence than it deserves,” he says. Cairo has repeatedly accused Ankara of interfering in its domestic affairs and providing a safe haven for leading members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood. Amid the ongoing strains Ankara has, in recent months, been sending conflicting messages. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildrim said in August that Turkey was looking to improve relations with Egypt. His comments came hours after Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi commented on relations between the two countries for the first time, saying Cairo was giving Turkey time to correct its position. In July a request by Egypt to make a slight amendment to a UN resolution condemning the coup in Turkey was viewed by Ankara as an attempt by Cairo to obstruct the Security Council's statement yet earlier in the same month expectations that there would be a thaw in bilateral relations had grown on the back of Ankara's rapprochement with both Israel and Russia. Higazi questioned how Erdogan could justify resuming relations with Israel and Russia but not Egypt when “Cairo has always maintained a respectful and peaceful position in the face of a negative and hostile attitude from Ankara”. When Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Ankara was seeking to restore bilateral ties, he spoke days after Erdogan had claimed publicly he had no problem with the Egyptian people, only with the Egyptian government. In June Yildrim indicated Ankara was keen to develop economic relations with Egypt regardless of the political conflict. “There is no obstacle in the way of better commercial and economic ties with Egypt. Turkey is ready to enter a new phase,” he said. Egypt's foreign ministry welcomed Yildrim's statement but noted the gap between declarations coming out of Ankara and Turkey's actions. Hopes that the 13th Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit in Istanbul would offer a chance to improve relations proved ill-founded. As OIC president Egypt was supposed to attend the summit to hand over the presidency to Turkey but the event passed without any noticeable thaw. “The OIC Conference was supposed to deliver a calming message. It didn't because of Erdogan's discourse,” says Fahmi. Turkish-Egyptian relations blossomed during the Brotherhood's one year rule when Cairo and Ankara signed 40 agreements covering trade, scientific cooperation, banking, tourism and other areas. They soured following Morsi's ouster in July 2013 since when Erdogan has relentlessly criticised the Egyptian government and repeatedly demanded Morsi be released from prison. In November 2013 Egypt declared the Turkish ambassador to Cairo persona non grata and asked him to leave the country. Turkey responded by expelling the Egyptian ambassador to Ankara. In August 2014 Erdogan called on the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Egypt. Turkey's relations with Egypt will not return to normal, he insists, until Morsi is released, all capital sentences are annulled, all political prisoners released and the ban on religious political parties lifted. In December 2014 Cairo imposed restrictions on Egyptians travelling to Turkey, requiring them to first obtain security approval for their trip. Meanwhile, Turkey has provided a safe haven for leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood and allows TV stations run by sympathisers of the Brotherhood to broadcast from its territory. Fahmi rules out any change in Erdogan's position though he says Ankara's economic and political discourses are following different trajectories, something of which Cairo could take advantage given “Egypt is no longer in need of any testimonies of good behaviour from other states”. Higazi links improvements in relations with Turkey to a commitment from Ankara that it respects the principles of good neighbourliness, including non-interference in the internal affairs of other states and respect of their sovereignty and territorial integrity. “Erdogan needs to be reminded how critical these principles are to regional peace and security,” he says.
