The International Strategic Research Organization (USAK) organized a conference entitled "Turkish-Egyptian Relations and Recent Developments in the Middle East" on 15 January in the wake of tensions that arose between Turkey and Egypt due to the delay of an international aid convoy bound for the Hamas-dominated Gaza Strip.
The lecturer of the conference, Dr. Mohamed Alaa Eldin A. Shawky El Hadidi, the Ambassador of Egypt to Ankara, also served as a fellow at the Center of Strategic Studies at Harvard University. He addressed questions from conference attendees regarding the ban of aid convoys and Egypt's opinion about the growing role of Turkey in the Middle East.
First of all, Ambassador el Alaa el Hadidi shed light on the current diplomatic crisis that originated from the delay of aid convoy that had been joined by lawmakers and groups from Turkey. Before giving an informative explanation about this matter, the top diplomat reminded attendees that Egypt's border with Gaza is not normal one and the crossings from Egypt to Gaza are organized according to international agreements due to the unusual situation of Gaza. The top diplomat also emphasized that if the Egypt border with Gaza were to be treated as normal border,Gaza would be recognized as an independent state from the West Bank."Such a kind of situation is not approved by Egypt supporting strongly the unity of Palestine", added the Ambassador.
Ambassador el Alaa el Hadidi clarified the Egyptian attitude towards aid convoyspassing through the Egypt-Gaza border by stating that Egypt did not prevent any convoy to Gaza and problems were derived from the violation of some legal procedures. In addition, his statement that "It is our land; it is our territory. We are not a banana republic"indicated the rules of Egypt's government deserve respect.
Following his explanatory remarks, the Ambassador added that Egypt is not in competition with Turkey over influence in the Middle East, and in contrast to the speculations, Egypt believes that Turkey plays a constructive and positive role in the region.
"We are not in conflict with Turkey. On the contrary, we are the ones who invited Turkey to the Middle East, because we believe that Turkey plays a constructive role in the Middle East peace process. As a country who invited Turkey to be more active in the Arab League, we are now condemned with envying Turkey", the Ambassador argued.
Dr. Mohamed AlaaEldin A. Shawky El Hadidi also underlined the common points in Turkish and Egyptian foreign policy.
"We are looking at the problems from similar perspectives. Turkey wants the Palestinian question to be solved and we do too. Both Turkey and Egypt stand on the same side regarding the Iran nuclear crisis. The Presidentof Egypt, Muhammad Hosni Mubarak, visited Turkey two times last year. Similarly, the Turkish President, Abdullah Gul, paid two official visits to our country. In this context, our relations are perfect; just these official visits speak for themselves to show the very good level of our relations", the ambassador added.
Having underlined the communication problems between Turkey and Egypt, and "misperceptions' about Egypt in Turkey, the Ambassador underlined the Al Jazeera factor by arguing that "Turkish media heavily relies on Al Jazeera. In fact, Al Jazeera has a political agenda and they want to jeopardize relations between Turkey and Egypt. Whatever their aim is, Turkey and Egypt will not be enemies."
