President Erdogan eventually shakes hands with President Sisi of Egypt
President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey shook hands with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi at the reception for the opening of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Erdogan had gone to Qatar at the invitation of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamed Jul Thani. According Turkish media, Erdogan met with some leaders standing at a reception at the Al Bayt Stadium in the capital Doha.
Erdogan greeted and had conversations with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, King of Jordan 2. Abdullah shook hands with the Emir of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Kuwait, Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
WHAT HAD HAPPENED?
Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s elected leader in Egypt in July 2013, was deposed in a coup and jailed. He was replaced by the military leader of the coup, Sisi, after which Turkey withdrew its ambassador in the country and severed relations with Egypt.
Erdogan did not attend the dinner invitation in order not to be at the same table with Sisi at the official dinner program at the UN General Assembly in 2019. Erdogan defended this attitude with the words, “I don’t sit at the same table and legitimize coup plotters.”
NOTE: Egypt, which was conquered by YAVUZ SULTAN SELIM of the Ottoman Empire in 1517, officially remained part of the Empire until 1914. However, it was occupied by the French in 1798-1801 and by Britain in 1882 and came under the protection of this country.
