Egypt Declines 4-Nation Defense Pact as Israel Ties and Gulf Rift Complicate Choice
Updated
Updated · Middle East Eye · Aug 10
Egypt Declines 4-Nation Defense Pact as Israel Ties and Gulf Rift Complicate Choice
3 articles · Updated · Middle East Eye · Aug 10
Summary
Cairo declined to join the new Turkey-Saudi Arabia-Pakistan security pact, despite Ankara’s push to expand the framework into a four-country alliance.
Turkey’s Hakan Fidan said the pact took 2 years to assemble and argued Egypt’s absence reflects “technical issues,” while still predicting Cairo will join later.
Egypt’s hesitation stems largely from its sensitive relationship with Israel, according to Ankara-based sources, which say Cairo would face Israeli pressure if it entered a collective-defense arrangement.
Regional calculations also weigh on Egypt: Saudi-UAE tensions leave Cairo reluctant to choose sides, while it still depends on Abu Dhabi, has defense ties with the UAE and wants stronger trade links with India.
The pact includes a NATO-like mutual-defense clause, and Turkish officials hope that if it proves a credible deterrent, Egypt will become more willing to sign on.