Ankara's relations with Cairo still frosty despite Saudi mediation
Saudi Arabia is reportedly working for a thaw between Ankara and Cairo, but little is likely to change before the general elections in Turkey.
Reports have started appearing in the Arab media suggesting that influential Gulf states spearheaded by Saudi Arabia are pushing for reconciliation between Turkey and Egypt.
Political developments in Turkey, which heads for general elections in a few weeks, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent remarks concerning Egypt, do not make for a very propitious environment, though, for fence-mending between Ankara and Cairo at this time.
Egypt, for its part, is not displaying any sense of urgency with regard to improving ties with Turkey, and is making headway in terms of developing ties with other regional countries.
Meanwhile Kuwait, a key Saudi Arabian ally, is reportedly exhorting Ankara to improve its ties with Cairo if it wants to be an effective regional player, and suggesting, in so many words, that Egypt holds the key to Turkey’s return to the Middle East as an important player.
