Anti-fissures: An Egyptian Türkish Alliance
Perhaps a SCODI: an SCO Diplomatic Initiative
Published: 2024-02-17
This report extends upon a small section of Macgregor’s recent discussion with Napolitano which caught my ear. The entire interview is excellent. See sources.
The masterful music from the culture section could be used to augment a reading of this report. I hope it also demonstrates the sumptous beauty which our cultures can create when given the peace and freedom to collaborate.
A Word from Macgregor
Colonel Macgregor, the conservative, experienced practitioner of Realpolitik in political and military affairs delivered an important, insightful section inserted into the middle of his weekly segment with Napolitano on Judging Freedom.
Napolitano introduced the section, somewhat disingenuously, with "we exchanged email this morning". This is no doubt true. It was obviously Macgregor who initiated this exchange, for he is seriously concerned about where the Middle East/southwest Asia is heading. He mentioned that he has already predicted that he expects a full regional war by around April. I am guessing that this is partly the commander speaking, understanding the season, the time for mobilization, post Ramadan.
The topic which Macgregor wished to bring to the attention of the US audience was a meeting between Egyptian President el-Sisi and Türkish President Erdoğan. Macgregor beautifully framed the topic to close his first sentence:
[…] they have not had government to government relations for 13 years.
Macgregor informed us that Egypt's first democratically elected leader, Morsi, a member of the a Muslim Brotherhood, was ousted by not only the CIA & MI-6 (US+UK) but also Mossad (Israel).
Erdoğan is the effective political leader of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt's el-Sisi, a military general, carries around his neck the weight of having been installed by the meddling Caucasian powers. The removal of Morsi began the diplomatic freeze between Türkiye and Egypt. Couped and imprisoned Morsi later died in Egyptian custody in 2019.
The two presidents have just spent two days together. El-Sisi greeted Erdoğan on red carpet at a Cairo airport. Erdoğan described his host as "esteemed brother".
An unreported meeting betwen Egypt and Türkiye’s Presidents
News of this extensive meeting, which forged a new relationship between these two regional powers, was extremely thin in western outlets, with Reuters providing but a small, confused article. Far better coverage, by Ezgi Akin from Al Monitor, provided much needed additional information. She reported that with Erdoğan were Türkiye's Foreign, Defence and Finance ministers.
Macgregor asked himself why the burying of the hatchet between these leaders and nations has just occurred? He cited oil and gas in the eastern Mediterranean, with a focus on Libya, and the crisis in Gaza. The report from Akin indicated that much more was afoot.
The Hallmarks of the SCO
I had already smelled a rat. Akin's article, citing trade, reinforced from where I believe this sudden cooperation may have originated. This looks entirely like a SCODI (my acronym: Shanghai Cooperation Organisation “Diplomatic Initiative”). This bears similar marks to the sudden, unexpected rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia felt out by Russia and furthered and sealed by China.
Both, Türkiye and Egypt are members, though not full, of the SCO. They both hold key trade route constriction points, gateways between Asia and Europe or, Asia, Africa and Europe, respectively. Nobody in Western media saw this coming, as was the case with the Saudi/Iranian rapprochement. Its has trade flow, investment and cooperation written all over it.
Akin reported that:
Sisi said the two countries would also seek to “enhance joint investments and open new areas of cooperation.”
And when I saw this, I was next to certain that we have a SCODI:
The two leaders also reached an agreement to elevate the strategic cooperation council mechanism between the two countries, Erdoğan said.
A civil war was the result of the Queen of Warmonger's "We came, we saw, he died" initiative in Libya. Egypt and Türkiye have been supporting the opposite sides of this conflict. It, in turn, prevents the orderly exploitation of the extensive Libyan energy resources. This is the situation to which Macgregor is referring in his comment on oil and gas. It is quite possible that the conflict may be resolved via this re-embrace of diplomatic relations between these two nations.
There are other elements of 'oil and gas in the eastern Mediterranean' which Macgregor perhaps did not have time to mention. There is an ongoing dispute about sovereignty over, or access rights to, gas fields off Cyprus, and Gaza, not to mention the discoveries in the occupied Golan Heights. As one member of this newsletter’s community recently noted, the Zionists would not be happy with a Palestinian state being able to finance itself via the gas fields off Gaza.
A Coalescing Regional Alliance
Macgregor also mentioned the ghastly situation in Gaza as a motivating factor for the rapprochement. He, rightly, acknowledged the almighty suffering and death which is being detonated on and around the Palestinian Gazans by the Zionists, before moving on to wider military concerns.
He expressed a confidence in King Abdulah of Jordan, a 'real King'. He characterized the Jordanian military as a bit smaller than the US marines but with far more armor. He emphasized that no nation in the region, except for Israel, wants a war. These leaders know how difficult it will be to rebuild the infrastructure which will be destroyed should a regional war run its course. Macgregor believes that they are, unfortunately, trapped by public outrage.
What Macgregor expected was exchanged during the diplomatic event between Egypt and Türkiye, was that the latter assured the former of their military support should a regional war break out. This, in turn, Macgregor saw as the beginning of the formation of a regional alliance. To this may be added Jordan, by public pressure, unless tensions can be reduced.
I suspect that he can also see, as can el-Sisi and Erdoğan's military advisors, the likely result of the Zionists’ threatened razing of Rafah. A quick 10 000 dead bodies is a biological weapon, on top of the starvation, unclean drinking water, emotional turmoil and the rest of the terror which the IDF has been raining down on the children of Gaza for months.
This will force the outbreak of war, in which the Zionists will force the US to be involved, which in turn will lead to the complete lack of any influence by the US in the region for generations and the complete destruction of Israel, all of which alarms the resolutely calm Macgregor.
People may run around seeking others to blame and asking why nobody saw this coming?
Macgregor is not alone in foreseeing this all too likely mass, regional disaster and the tectonic shifts in geopolitics which would result from it.
Annex: The Philadelphi Corridor
There has been much mention of the 'Philadelphi Corridor' which has been an annoying confusion to me. It is not a ‘corridor’ but a 100m wide 14 Km long strip of partially demilitarized land 'between' Egypt and Gaza. The only military allowed on it are Egyptian, so it is not 'between' anything. It is Egypt, which has agreed to station on it at most 750 military/police personnel. The name was ascribed to the zone by Israelis, which explains why this term is used rather than the alternate Saladin Axis.
The zone was agreed between Israel and Egypt 19 years ago when Israel forced its settlers to leave Gaza as they began 'mowing the lawn' and imposing the seige on Gaza to create their own open air concentration camp. Incidentally, even pro-Israeli Wikipedia notes that a few Zionists refused to leave Gaza at the instruction of their government and some burned themselves alive in protest. This should clarify the psychotic, extremism inherent in some of the Zionist settlers.
The land of the Sinai, of which the 'corridor' is a tiny part, was returned to Egypt after the treaty to resolve the 1973 war was reached in 1979. In 1982, 3 years later, Israel forced the evacuation of the 18 settlements its settlers had built in the Sinai during the 25 intervening years.
or support this work via Buy Me A Coffee or Patreon.
Sources
Turkey’s Erdogan receives red-carpet reception in Egypt, calls Sisi 'brother', Ezgi Akin, Al Monitor, 2024-02-14
Good reporting
Al-Monitor, Wikipedia
Erdogan says Turkey ready to cooperate with Egypt on Gaza, Reuters, 2024-02-14
confused rubbish
Egypt warns Israeli retaking of Philadelphi Corridor would violate peace treaty, State Information Service [Egypt], 2024-01-16
Obituary: Egypt’s first freely elected President Mohamed Morsi, no author, Al Jazeera, 2019-06-17
Philadelphi Corridor, Wikipedia
Israeli disengagement from Gaza, Wikipedia
The military met heavy resistance and riots from settlers while pulling out. Two far-right Israelis burned themselves alive in protest of the withdrawal.[6][7]
Egypt–Israel peace treaty, Wikipedia
Israeli occupation of the Sinai Peninsula, Wikipedia
SCO + 1 (+ 3) : Welcome Iran, and Hi Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia [updated], YesXorNo, 2021-02-22
Col. Douglas Macgregor: Does the US Have a Coherent Foreign Policy?, Napolitano interviews Macgregor, Judging Freedom, 2024-02-15
Culture
Jimmy Page & Robert Plant - Kashmir [HD] with Egyptian Orchestra, uploaded by Movie Walls on 2013-11-24 (I think the performance is from 1994)
Copyleft: CC0
