In a complete reversal of his incessant attacks against the Egyptian government since the 2013 revolution, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched a massive media and diplomatic campaign to mend the ties with Egypt. Talks scheduled for next
April 30, 2021
Egypt is seeking to win Kenya’s support for its stance on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, as Kenya is Africa’s representative at the UN Security Council. Egypt is considering the option of formally taking the dam issue to the United Nations.
Indeed, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry made Kenya the first stop on his tour to mobilize African support for Cairo s position on the dam.
On April 19, Shoukry met with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. An Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement said Shoukry told Kenyatta that Egypt hopes an agreement on the dam can be reached that preserves the security and stability of the region.”
April 30, 2021
Following the yearslong instability that has taken a heavy toll on the influx of Egyptian workers in Libya, their numbers are expected to exceed 2 million by 2024, sources in the overseas recruitment field in Egypt told Al-Monitor.
Hamdi Imam, chairman of the Division of Recruitment Companies at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, and chairman of Globo Human Resource, a recruitment agency for overseas jobs, told Al-Monitor that Egyptian workers will take part in the reconstruction of Libya where the civil war has wreaked havoc for an entire decade.
Egypt and Libya agreed April 20 to allow Egyptian workers to return to the Libyan labor market. The agreement came during the visit of Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly to the Libyan capital Tripoli, accompanied by a delegation of 11 ministers.
Randa Slim
Senior Fellow and Director of Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues Program
News from Iraq often shifts between the good and the very bad. Successes and disasters alternate in a regular news cycle, and the last few days have been no exception. On April 18, information leaked to news outlets revealed that Iraq hosted direct talks on April 9 between Iranian and Saudi delegations, primarily to discuss Yemen. On April 25, we saw the horrific pictures of the fire at the Ibn al-Khatib Hospital, in which at least 82 people were killed, many of them COVID-19 patients, and hundreds wounded.
If the Iranian-Saudi meeting in Baghdad is the result of competent and smart Iraqi diplomacy, the hospital tragedy is the result of endemic corruption and a culture of impunity in a political class that has since 2003 treated the country and its resources as their spoils of war.
Turkey hopes better ties with Cairo and Riyadh will break its isolation
Egypt welcomed the move but has been publicly cautious about Turkish calls for better ties between the two countries which have also supported rival sides in Libya’s conflict.
Tuesday 27/04/2021
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin speaks during an interview in Istanbul, Turkey. (REUTERS)
ISTANBUL – Turkish talks with Egypt next week could forge renewed cooperation between the estranged regional powers and help efforts to end the war in Libya, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman said.
Relations have been strained since Egypt’s army toppled a Muslim Brotherhood president close to Turkey in 2013 in what Ankara said was a military coup.