UPDATE (7:58pm ET):
The media outlet linked below is a Kuwaiti outlet citing Egyptian sources originally quoted by an Egyptian outlet, not the original Egyptian outlet itself. It also appears to be a partial reprint of a similar English-language article published in the World Tribune. Thanks to David Kenner, Foreign Policy’s Middle East Editor, for the heads up on these points.
ORIGINAL:
Egyptian media outlets are conveying leaks from Egyptian intelligence officials accusing Turkey of arming jihadists in the Egyptian-controlled Sinai Peninsula, a charge that – confirmed or not – will be taken as further evidence of crashing Egyptian-Turkish ties amid deepening Turkish regional isolation.
Turkish shipments to Al Qaeda-linked anti-government elements are not unheard of, and Yemen has reportedly intercepted at least five arms shipments this year.Turkey has aligned itself with Sunni extremists throughout the region, anchoring one of three emerging Middle East camps, opposite a Iranian/Syrian/Hezbollah bloc and a bloc made up of the U.S.’s traditional Arab allies and Israel.
Amid calls by U.S. analysts to deal Hamas a death blow, the Turkish foreign ministry on Wednesday announced that it had sent $850,000 to provide energy to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, providing the weakened terror group with desperately needed breathing room.
According to a statement released by the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, Turkey sent financial aid to the Palestinian government to supply energy to hospitals and sewage plants in the Gaza Strip under a Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA) initiative. The Foreign Ministry statement says that UN agencies in Palestine will help with the delivery of fuel to institutions that are in urgent need of energy…Pointing out that Turkey has conducted other projects for Palestine, including supplying medicine and medical equipment, the Foreign Ministry’s announcement reiterated that Turkey stands by Palestine, its brother and friend, and is determined to continue its support to the country, which is facing occupation and a blockade.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other top officials also took a meeting with top figures from Hamas in recent weeks.
Alternatively, Egyptian intelligence may be trying to damage Turkish popularity and credibility by asserting that Ankara is assisting fighters inside the country, amid a spike in violence that included a Tuesday bus attack in the northern Sinai Peninsula. Recent reports that Erdogan is blocking reconciliation between the Palestinian Fatah and Hamas factions were also traced to Egyptian officials.
It’s not impossible that Egyptian officials, angry over Ankara’s increasingly shrill support for the Muslim Brotherhood, are partially leveraging Egyptian media outlets to signal anger.
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