Reports about the developments in the Egyptian-Turkish relations raised questions about whether the new path would lead to “bigger steps” against the Muslim Brotherhood organization in Türkiye during the coming period.
In recent remarks, Turkish Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, Sardar Cam, criticized the Muslim Brotherhood, saying: “The organization has lost its position due to divisions and affinity with violent groups.”
He added: “Now there are Brotherhood groups”, referring to the organization’s division into three conflicting fronts, namely the London and Istanbul fronts and the Change Movement.
Egyptian expert in fundamentalist affairs, Amr Abdel Moneim, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the statement of the Turkish deputy minister was “the first and the most dangerous official Turkish comment against the Muslim Brotherhood.”
On the sidelines of the opening of the World Cup hosted by Qatar, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi shook hands with his Turkish counterpart.
Egyptian presidential spokesman, Bassam Rady, stated that Sisi shook hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan in Doha, and that both have affirmed “the depth of the historical ties linking the two countries and the Egyptian and Turkish peoples… and agreed that this would be a beginning of the development of bilateral relations.”
Press reports quoted the Turkish president as saying on his return flight from Qatar that his encounter with his Egyptian counterpart was a “first step towards further normalization of relations between the two countries.”
He added: “Other moves will follow.”
The Egyptian researcher specializing in fundamentalist affairs said that the Muslim Brotherhood organization and its various factions in Türkiye, were examining the Turkish reaction after the imprisonment of pro-organization journalist Hossam Al-Ghamry, and accusations against him related to Turkish national security.
“It seems there is a specific directive from the Turkish authorities to control the Brotherhood’s media discourse over Egypt, paralleled with a turn to change some names of entities and associations affiliated with the organization in Türkiye," he stated.
During the past months, Ankara took steps that Cairo described as “positive,” pertaining to stopping the Muslim Brotherhood’s “incitement” campaigns and political activities in its territory, and preventing the organization’s media professionals from criticizing Egypt.
