Egyptian MP warns against Turkey's regional policies

Egyptian Member of Parliament and the Director of the Center for Middle East Studies in Paris, Abdel Rahim Ali, warned today against Turkey's regional policies.

Turkey, he said, works to harm Egypt, besiege it regionally and threaten its national security.

He referred in a statement to a meeting on Thursday between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and an envoy of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Ankara.

"Such meetings prove Turkey's attempts to gain influence outside its own borders and control eastern and central Africa," Ali said in the statement.

He said Turkey wants to besiege Egypt and threaten its interests in Libya and Ethiopia.

Ali noted that Turkey uses ongoing tensions between Cairo and Addis Ababa on Ethiopia's Nile dam by cementing its ties with the latter, using investments and economic aid.

"These investments increased remarkably in the past period," Ali said.

He added that visits to Ethiopia by Turkish security and military officials also increased in the past period.

This compounds, he said, Turkey's attempts to occupy Libya with the aim of ratcheting up pressure on Egypt.

MP Ali said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been trying to enhance his country's ties with Ethiopia, Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia and Djibouti, all with the aim of laying a siege around Egypt and putting pressure on it, using the Nile River.

"Turkey vowed to protect Ethiopia's Nile dam by providing Ethiopia with early warning systems and radars as well as rockets manufactured by both Turkey and Israel," Ali said.

He expected Ankara's attempts to harm Egypt to fail.

"Egypt's security establishment is on high alert," Ali said in his statement. "Egypt also has the most powerful army in the region, one that is able to protect peace and security in the Middle East."