Cease-fire initiatives pit Turkey against Egypt
Is Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan more concerned with undermining Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi than to broker a cease-fire in Gaza?
Turkey is angry over Israel’s brutal operation in the Gaza Strip. Ankara, however, is marginalized in this crisis, unable to contribute to efforts aimed at ending the bloodshed. Meanwhile, the crisis is seen to be further fueling tensions between Turkey and Egypt.
Ties between the two countries are strained already over the military coup that toppled Egypt’s elected President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood-dominated administration in July 2013.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an ardent supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, is infuriated over the role Egypt is playing in trying to broker a cease-fire in Gaza.
He is questioning Cairo’s role by arguing that Egypt is currently governed by a tyrant, and claiming that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who led the coup against Morsi and the Brotherhood, is merely using Gaza as a pretext to legitimize his rule.
