Turkey To Take ‘New Steps’ towards Normalizing Ties With Egypt

File photo. Egypt's Deputy Foreign Minister Hamdi Sanad Loza (R) meets with his Turkish counterpart Sedat Onal (L) (AFP)

Ankara - Saeed Abdelrazek, Cairo - Waleed Abdelrahman

09:23-9 April 2022 AD ـ 08 Ramadan 1443 AH

Turkey To Take ‘New Steps’ towards Normalizing Ties With Egypt

File photo. Egypt's Deputy Foreign Minister Hamdi Sanad Loza (R) meets with his Turkish counterpart Sedat Onal (L) (AFP)

Turkey announced that it will take more steps to normalize relations with Egypt, but denied appointing a new ambassador to Cairo.

“Ankara and Cairo are taking positive steps and ambassadors will be reciprocally appointed when the time is right,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters after a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels.

The Minister denied recent reports that his country appointed an ambassador to Egypt, adding that a new Charge d'Affaires will be appointed to replace the current one whose mandate has expired.

The Turkish statements came months after Cairo and Ankara held "exploratory talks" to address bilateral relations and several regional issues, aiming to normalize ties between the two countries.

Former Assistant Foreign Minister Ambassador Ali Al Hefni told Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday that there is a common will in Cairo and Ankara to address their problems, even if gradually.

“The progress of relations could have been faster than that if Ankara had the desire to deal more decisively with some issues that represent a priority for the Egyptian state,” he said.

Relations between Ankara and Cairo deteriorated in 2013 over the Turkish position on the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt and its support for the group that the Egyptian authorities have designated a terrorist organization.

While the two countries withdrew their ambassadors simultaneously, their embassies remained open and continued to work at the Chargé d'Affaires level over the past eight years.

Meanwhile, Turkish diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that it will take time to see relations between the countries back to normal.

“The normalization steps are progressing slowly,” the sources said, attributing the delay to the conditions set by Cairo for restoring relations with Ankara.

Although Al-Hefni had stressed that relations between the two countries still need some time before being completely repaired, due to unresolved issues, he confirmed that the steps taken until now were good.

The Turkish sources said that Ankara is working on the file of the Muslim Brotherhood, noting that it is not considered the main obstacle hampering the normalization of relations.

“It is one of the important files in which Cairo wants Ankara to show a clear position,” the sources said.

During the past months, Turkey took steps that Cairo described as "positive," after Ankara ordered Istanbul-based channels affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood to stop airing criticism and incitement against Egyptian authorities.

Iraqi Army Commander Sacked After Drone Attacks Targeted Saudi Arabia

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi (Reuters)

05:45-12 September 2026 AD ـ 30 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

Iraqi Army Commander Sacked After Drone Attacks Targeted Saudi Arabia

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi (Reuters)

The office of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi announced on Saturday the dismissal of the commander in charge of the southern Maysan province after Saudi Arabia said drones launched from Iraq hit the East-West pipeline and led to its closure.

The commander was fired following the "confirmation that the attacks targeting our brethren in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia originated from a location within the governorate,” said al-Zaidi’s office.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry condemned "the targeting of the East-West pipeline in the Riyadh and Madinah regions by several drones coming from Iraq, which caused human injuries and damage.”

"The pipeline was stopped as a precaution, and the attacks resulted in some injuries," an Energy Ministry official told the SPA news agency earlier.

"At the request of the Iraqi Prime Minister... (Riyadh) has chosen not to respond at this stage and to support the efforts of the Iraqi government ... to prevent attacks launched from Iraq against the Kingdom and neighboring countries," the Foreign Ministry said.

Arab World

Israel-Lebanon Talks in Rome Next Week Reportedly Postponed

(2L/R) Israel's Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, State Department Chief of Staff Daniel Holler, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh attend a meeting between Israeli and Lebanese delegations hosted by the United States at the State Department in Washington, DC, on June 3, 2026. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP)

Asharq Al Awsat

05:34-12 September 2026 AD ـ 30 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

05:34-12 September 2026 AD ـ 30 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

Israel-Lebanon Talks in Rome Next Week Reportedly Postponed

Talks between Israel and Lebanon that were scheduled to take place in Rome next week have been postponed and will occur instead in ⁠October, Axios reported ⁠on Friday, citing a US official.

Jewish holidays, a Paris conference ⁠and UN General Assembly preparations meant participants could not convene in Rome, Axios cited a source as saying.

The Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors are ⁠due ⁠to meet in Washington, according to the post on X.

Arab World

Houthi Casualties Strain Sanaa Hospitals’ Capacity

Houthis use images of their dead to recruit more fighters (X)

Sanaa: Asharq Al Awsat

00:23-12 September 2026 AD ـ 30 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

Sanaa: Asharq Al Awsat

00:23-12 September 2026 AD ـ 30 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

Houthi Casualties Strain Sanaa Hospitals’ Capacity

Houthis use images of their dead to recruit more fighters (X)

The fallout from the Houthis’ military escalation in Yemen is straining hospitals and endangering civilians in areas under the group’s control, while fueling rare criticism from within its own ranks.

Activists and former fighters accuse the group of exploiting poverty to recruit young men, trading on fighters’ blood and diverting resources to the war effort at the expense of civilian needs.

Medical sources in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa told Asharq Al-Awsat that the group’s Health Ministry had recently ordered several government hospitals to limit admissions of critically ill patients.

Intensive care units, emergency departments and other wards have instead been reserved for wounded Houthi fighters arriving from the front lines.

The measures cover Al-Thawra, Al-Jumhouri, Police, Military, Al-Quds, 48 and Kuwait hospitals — among the capital’s leading medical facilities. Their capacity to treat civilians has consequently shrunk, particularly for patients needing urgent care or intensive treatment.

The restrictions coincided with the arrival in Sanaa of large numbers of dead and wounded Houthi fighters following battles on several fronts across Yemen.

Health workers said hospitals were taking in growing numbers of casualties and setting aside beds, equipment and wards for those arriving from combat zones, including fighters requiring surgery or intensive care.

Hospitals under strain

The Houthis have tightened security around several medical facilities, barred media access and withheld information about the identities and conditions of casualties arriving from the front lines.

Health workers said the influx of wounded fighters had pushed hospitals closer to capacity, leaving less room for civilian patients.

Ahmed, whose relative needed treatment in Sanaa, said his family struggled to obtain the necessary care at Al-Jumhouri Hospital and was forced to look elsewhere because the facility lacked the resources to treat the patient.

He accused the Houthis of channeling available medical resources into the war effort, warning that civilians — particularly children, older people, chronically ill patients and emergency cases — faced growing risks.

The measures come as the health system in Houthi-held areas reels from years of war, dwindling funding and severe shortages of medicine, supplies and medical staff. Health facilities have also been damaged, forcing some to close.

The strain extends beyond Sanaa. The capital’s main hospitals routinely receive referrals from other provinces and regions, meaning their reduced capacity affects a far wider population under Houthi control.

Dissent from within

As the escalation weighs on the health sector, criticism is also mounting among figures and activists aligned with the Houthis.

Their complaints center on the war’s human cost, the treatment of fighters and the families of those killed or wounded, and recruitment practices that prey on economic hardship.

In the latest rebuke, activist and former Houthi fighter Abdullah Sharaf al-Mahdi attacked the group’s leaders and supervisors, accusing them of trading on fighters’ blood and sidelining bereaved and wounded families for personal gain.

Fighters and their families bear the cost of the war, al-Mahdi said, while officials and supervisors receive privileges including property and financial allocations. The conflict, he added, had become a vehicle for advancing the interests of factions within the group.

Al-Mahdi said he regretted the years he had spent fighting for the Houthis and would not support them again. His comments reflect a shift among some critics from opposing the group’s policies to questioning its motives for prolonging the war.

Criticism has also emerged from within Houthi-controlled institutions.

Abdu Bishr, a member of the Houthi-controlled parliament in Sanaa, accused the group of ignoring Yemenis’ suffering and pursuing what he called “futile” wars. He urged it to keep economic and humanitarian issues out of the conflict.

Bishr called for salaries to be paid, detainees released and airports reopened. He warned that what he described as “taking pleasure in bloodshed” would deepen the humanitarian catastrophe and urged the group to ease people’s suffering or “leave the scene.”

Houthi activist and writer Zaid al-Kibsi also criticized the group’s recruitment of young people and adolescents, saying it exploited poverty and worsening economic conditions to push more of them toward the front lines.

He accused the Houthis of using religious and sectarian rhetoric, along with slogans of “jihad and martyrdom,” to recruit young people as many families struggle to meet their basic needs.

Some recruits depend on the group’s modest payments to support their families while risking death or injury in combat, al-Kibsi said.

Many are young men who have had no chance to build their lives or start families, leaving their relatives to bear the consequences when they are killed or wounded.

Turkey To Take ‘New Steps’ towards Normalizing Ties With Egypt

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