The past few days have seen several moves that reflected a desire for political rapprochement between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the Islamic resistance movement Hamas.
During his tour on Wednesday at Jenadriyah cultural festival, King Salman bin Abdulaziz expressed his admiration of the Egyptian pavilion, saying: “Egypt has come back [and restored its cultural significance].”
Relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia have been strained since Egypt voted for two UN Security Council bills on Syria. After that, the kingdom suspended oil supplies from Aramco — a company headed by crown prince Mohammad bin Salman — to Egypt for three months without stating clear reasons.
Saudi Arabia suspended also all memoranda of understanding and agreements signed with President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi during Salman's visit to Cairo in April. The suspended MoUs were in the fields of commerce, industry and anti-corruption.
However, there have recently been indicators that relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia are witnessing a slight improvement since Sisi issued a decree several days ago approving an MoU with the Saudi Fund for Development for US$1.5 billion to finance the Sinai Peninsula development project.
On the other hand, the first visit to Egypt by a Turkish economic delegation since June 30, 2013, that took place recently in Cairo, has raised controversy about the revival of Turkish-Egyptian political relations; the relations were abruptly severed after the June 30 and the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Sources said that the delegation, which visited Egypt three days ago, headed by Ihsanoglu the Chairperson of the Turkish Federation of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry, belonged to former Turkish President Abdullah Gul who had a less intransigent position toward Egypt's current regime. Gul made many positive statements that upheld reconciliation with Egypt and the resumption of ties.
Sources with the Federation which organized the delegation's visit said it obtained the permit from security authorities in Turkey before flying to Egypt.
