It is crystal clear that Egypt is in a dilemma after the death of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. The Egyptian anxiety stems from the political agenda of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz.
This has been stated by the Egyptian media, which considers King Salman’s stand on the Muslim Brotherhood not as firm and decisive as that of the late King Abdullah.
King Salman more or less favours reconciliation. So his approach to Egypt will include conditions and requests that did not exist during the era of King Abdullah.
In other words, Egypt is worried about the possibility of losing Saudi funds or receiving aid conditional on a political agreement defined by the new king.
A change in leadership in any of its allies poses a dilemma for Egypt. This is especially true of Saudi Arabia, reflecting the importance of the Kingdom during the current period of instability in the region. In the light of the difficult political and economic conditions in Egypt, it is natural and expected that it would be worried.
However, what is unusual is the way the media is expressing its views about this dilemma. It is in panic. Egyptian writer Mostafa AlNagar wrote last February in Al Masry Al Youm newspaper about some Egyptian media outlets insulting Qatar and hitting below the belt when mentioning the Saudi regime.
This shows how some Egyptian media outlets are using tactics of the 1950s and 1960s. At that time, insulting language, oblique threats and blows below the belt were ways to manipulate others.
It appears that those who promoted such practices did not expect them to provoke fears outside Egypt. It also shows that the Egyptian regime has not changed much despite the transformation the region and the world have witnessed, even after the first people’s revolution in recent Egyptian history.
It also indicates that some media outlets in Egypt have the deep feeling that the choice that the Egyptian state made after the coup of June 30 was perhaps the worst. On that basis, the whole situation is indeed disturbing.
Stability in Egypt — and Saudi Arabia — cannot be achieved easily in the light of the troubling conditions in the Arab world. However, this stability is in the strategic interest of not only Egypt and Saudi Arabia but the entire Arab region and the world.
Keeping this in view, King Salman has confirmed that Saudi aid to Egypt will continue.
Where, then, is the problem? It seems it is in the way the funds are used. Some Egyptians think that Saudi funds are like a gift, an open-ended royal grant or a blank cheque.
They also think that Saudi Arabia shouldn’t reconcile with Turkey, for instance, as the latter sympathises with the Muslim Brotherhood. This way of thinking ignores the fact that relations between states shouldn’t be based on such views, as they become emotional rather than political ties.
Political vision should be broader and wiser — ties between Egypt and Saudi Arabia shouldn’t be based on their stands regarding the Muslim Brotherhood or Turkey.
If Egypt’s stability is of strategic interest to Saudi Arabia — and it really is — then it is the duty of Saudi Arabia to handle the Muslim Brotherhood issue as Egypt’s internal matter, and it should look at it from the perspective of how this could affect the stability of Egypt and what, in turn, will be the consequences for the region.
The Saudi policy of distancing itself from Turkey — as many people in Egypt want — does not benefit the region. These equations are the basis of the region’s stability, and consequently the stability of Egypt.
Turkey is one the key countries in the region due to its military and economic power and its political role. Turkey is a member of Nato and G20. It is also strategically located between the Arab world and Israel and Iran. It is one of the countries that have opposed the Israeli occupation of Palestine and Iran’s sectarian ambitions by political and economic means.
Turkey is also a secular country whose projects and regional politics are likely to mesh with the interests of Arab countries, assuming that there is an Arab project in the making.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia are the most capable Arab countries that can think of launching an Arab project and investing in it. This is what Saudi Arabia and Egypt should be busy in, instead of preoccupying themselves with Turkey’s stand on the Muslim Brotherhood.
Egypt finds it unacceptable that Turkey describes the event of June 30, 2013 as a military coup. However, most countries see it that way. That doesn’t mean that Egypt should cut its ties with those countries.
The Egyptian regime wants the world to consider it a revolution and not a coup. It is Egypt’s right to use all political and legitimate means to prove this in Egypt and abroad.
The excessive focus on the Muslim Brotherhood issue is a result of the absence of Egyptian intellectual and political projects supported by the majority of Egyptians.
The way the Muslim Brotherhood issue has been handled in Egypt and outside illustrates how the Egyptian regime’s troubles affect the Arab world.
This is the major issue hindering the development of the Arab states, and as a consequence there were destructive events that ended the Arab revolutions. Due to that the Arab countries are in a state of intellectual and political isolation.
This makes us wonder, is this the end? Luckily, what appeared to be unattainable is now slowly becoming achievable.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already visited Riyadh. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi was also in Riyadh at that time. Was it by coincidence or prior arrangement?
There was no news that the two presidents met in the Saudi capital, but their presence there at the same time sends some signals. In any case, the Turkish president’s visit shows that the Saudi stand has changed in the right direction. It may be the first of many unexpected changes in the political vision of some of the region’s countries.
I recall writing last year about the need for a Turkish-Egyptian-Saudi coalition. I said that “this triangle represents a strategic stand in light of current events.” They are parties that complement each other politically and economically. Coordination between them will restore some balance to the region after the fall of Iraq and Syria.
“Besides, they form a wall in front of the destructive Iranian role. They will lead to stability amidst the chaos we are witnessing today.” (Al Hayah, January 13, 2014)
So, will Egypt change its position, at least a little bit, to take the same direction as Saudi Arabia?
The author is an academic, a columnist and a political analyst
