The political shape in Egypt and Turkey has changed the countries in various ways. This is regarding foreign policy and economic development as well. The problems to be analyzed in the essay are those caused by the army-Islamist clashes. Various challenges and changes have been brought up by the army-Islamist clashes in Turkey and Egypt.
There have been demonstrations in response to most leadership that are considered to be non democratic and have the style of autocratic dictators. The politics of these countries are therefore authoritarian. This leadership is usually manipulative. In Egypt, the leadership is dictatorial in nature. There are definite actions to depict this form of leadership in this particular country that is under the Islamic rule (Brown prg 2).
However, the ruling by the Islamic party attracted the support from nations such as Qatar. They embraced the opportunity to become the investors of the Islamist party in Egypt. This occurred only because the Islamic party had taken over the leadership. They gave Egypt support, both financially and politically despite the low rate of aid and disbursements that were experienced from them (Barnett 9). The leadership of the Islamic party, however, pushed the United States away. Before then, they had the support of the US in the form of funding and aid. The new leadership of Mubarak would work with Saudi Arabia or even the United States. These nations then helped promote the economic stability, projects that were aimed at development and security in Egypt. Their political stand is what made Egypt gain the support of their policies from other nations (Barnett 6). With the removal of President Mubarak, it then threatened to introduce a form of leadership that was to create hostility or violence in Egypt. The taking over by the independence ruling of El Sisi raised questions among the Gulf elites on whether the new president would fight terrorism for instance. Apart from Qatar that stood with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE took a different turn with the new party in leadership (Barnett 8).
There has been a change in the policies of Egypt since the new administration took over. There have been frequent imprisonments of the opponents of the government based on vague charges. There have been attacks on journalists who criticize the current ruling and their policies. The journalists are usually threatened to leave their jobs. Any demonstrations done by the people have also been stopped using brutal force. This is to imply that the people do not have the right to question the government. The use of legal ways and other ways that are not within the law to force the people to accept the political order in the country is also another common practice in Egypt by the new leadership (Brown prg 4).
The current leadership in Egypt has increased the cases of terrorism and have further destroyed the political climate that is required for economic growth. Although the economy of Egypt has not worsened, it has slowed down by a significant margin. The Gulf governments have almost given up in the liberalization of Egypt politically (Awad and Hashemprg 8).
Egypt is, however, being seen to come up with its priorities in foreign policy and have also begun to depict the will to act in the ways of its neighborhoods. The issue of internal security and stability has remained dominant in Egypt. However, their quest for internal security has affected their relationship with Ethiopia and Libya. The end of the Muslim Brotherhood has led to a gap in Egypt’s relations with Turkey and Qatar (Barnett 13).
In Turkey, there has also been a change in some of their policies and attitudes. The politics of the country have been altered in complex ways under the leadership of the Justice and Development Party. The party had roots in the Turkish Islamist movement and had since been influencing its followers against the institutions of the secular democratic state. The party has also exercised huge power over the executive and judiciary branches of the country. The ruling party has been seen to have reshaped the domestic politics of Turkey and has further reformulated the foreign policy of the country by their Islamic view and the idea of ‘brotherhood’ of all the countries that are Islamic (Eligurprg 1). The Turkey government further found it difficult to adjust their foreign policy in the occurrence of developments that are considered to be unfavorable. Cooperating with the international community is also hard while at the same time attempting to preserve its concerns and policy preferences due to the root or base of its leadership. This has risen what can be referred to as policy dilemmas in Turkey (Turanprg 1).
Turkey’s main army that was replaced by the Islamist party motivated it to be a part of the anti-regime demonstrations that were taking place in Egypt. Turkey had the expectation that the Muslim Brotherhood would be significant after the regime in Egypt fell. Their association with Egypt did not, however, turn out too well, especially due to the events that took place in 2013. They both canceled a joint naval exercise that was to occur in the Mediterranean. Turkey then responded by accusing the Egyptian military administration of committing massacres. The response from Egypt was through striking Turkey’s emotional foreign policy. The diplomatic relations between Egypt and Turkey were then reduced (Yakisprg 8).
The Islamist movement in Turkey also destroyed their relationship with Syria in 2011. They took the opposition’s side and their foreign policy makers predicted that this would be a situation almost similar to investing in the future of Syria. However, this forecast did not turn out as they had expected. They tried to initiate a change to democracy by attempting to demand an end to the military operations but did not succeed. They shut down their embassy in Syria as a result of their misunderstandings (Yakisprg 11).
The association of Turkey with the Islamic nations and their ruling party is being witnessed in their way of conducting things. For instance, treatment of women is being done in the Islamic way. There has been discrimination against women that has been evidenced in the rates of employment which is low for women. The murder rate of women has further increased. There is also a rise in the violence against women that has been seen to be a reflection of the greater Islamization that has been occurring in the societies in Turkey. The prime minister has condemned the violence against women but has then said that he does not believe in equality between men and females. The violence against women is just one of the few instances drawn from the occurrences in Turkey that have taken an Islamic way (Eligurprg 5).
Works Cited
Awad, Mokhtar, and MostafaHashem. Egypt's Escalating Islamist Insurgency. 21 October 2015. 14 March 2016 <http://strategicstudyindia.blogspot.co.ke/2015/12/egypts-escalating-islamist-insurgency.html>.
Barnett, Carolyn. "Egypt in the Region." 2015. Rocky Harbors. 14 March 2016 <http://csis.org/files/publication/150408_Barnett_RockyHarbors_chapter8.pdf>.
Brown, Nathan J. Who is Running the Egyptian State? 31 July 2015. 14 March 2016 <http://carnegieendowment.org/2015/07/31/who-is-running-egyptian-state/ik8w>.
Eligur, Banu. Turkey's Declining Democracy. 14 March 2016 <http://www.hudson.org/research/10525-turkey-s-declining-democracy>.
Trager, Eric. The Muslim Brotherhood's Long Game: 6 July 2012. 14 March 2016 <http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/the-muslim-brotherhoods-long-game-egypts-ruling-party-plots-its-path-to-pow>.
Turan, Ilter. Turkey Hesitates to Revise External Priorities. 12 November 2014. 14 March 2016 <http://www.gmfus.org/publications/turkey-hesitates-revise-external-priorities>.
Yakis, Yasar. "Turkey after the Arab Spring: Policy Dilemmas." Middle East Policy Council (2014).
