European conditions on Damascus, Egypt stops negotiations with Turkey

During the past week, Arab newspapers reported the attempts of the Damascus government to normalize relations with Europe, in addition to the failure of Al-Nahda Dam negotiations, as well as the Egyptian-Turkish negotiations.

Indirect dialogue between Damascus and Brussels about the conditions for normalization

Starting with Syria, and in this regard, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported indirect talks between Damascus and European countries, and said: "The foreign ministers in a number of European countries did not respond to a non-public written letter sent by the Syrian Foreign Minister, Faisal Al-Miqdad, which included the claim for "opening a dialogue" with Damascus and "preventing any new positions being taken within the framework of the European Union."

But the indirect response came from the official in the security and foreign affairs of the European Union, Joseph Borrell, who said in his blog: " If the Syrian government takes the right steps in the right direction, we will all respond" with the aim of reaching a "new Syria," adding: "We will not stop imposing economic sanctions, there will be no normalization of any level, and we will never support reconstruction efforts until we witness the start of the political transition process in Syria." This "decisive response" from Borrell, and the unity in the European position contributed to Al-Miqdad reluctance to continue demanding the Europeans to open dialogue, and to seek for opening cracks in the European position.

In the middle of last month, Al-Miqdad sent a written letter to a number of foreign ministers in a number of European countries, including Austria, Romania, Italy and Greece, of which Al-Sharq Al-Awsat obtained a copy. Al-Miqdad's message included an overview of the situation in the past years, as "chaos and instability prevailed in a number of countries, and one of the most prominent reasons that resulted in this is the emergence of terrorism in Syria with a number of European countries, as well as a number of other countries around the world. This phenomenon has contributed to the loss of many innocent people's lives."

Accordingly, Al-Miqdad called for "the necessity to strengthen dialogue and understanding between us, on the basis of mutual respect, common interests, and combating terrorism, in a way that may contribute to achieving common aspirations, and then reaching the desired level of security and stability for all of us," far from the policies of "governments aiming at continuing blatant interference in internal affairs, while imposing unilateral coercive measures on the Syrian people."

For his part, Borrell wrote an article as a response to Al-Miqdad, in which he said: "We are all aware of the extent of the devastation suffered by Syria, and the extent of the suffering that the Syrian people have endured, and which has still been ongoing since ten years. Syria has become synonymous with death, ruin and devastation, in addition to the largest human migration movement witnessed in the 21^st century so far." He added: "Syria needs to change the current course (...), and the ruling Syrian regime has a great responsibility to take the important steps stipulated in UN Security Council Resolution 2254."

Al-Nahda Dam negotiations lead to a new stumble

Regarding the stalled negotiations on Al-Nahda Dam, Al-Bayan newspaper said: "A new attempt to reach a solution in the issue of Al-Nahda Dam between Egypt and Sudan on the one hand and Ethiopia on the other has failed. The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the most recent round of negotiations held with Ethiopia and Sudan in Kinshasa on April 4^th and 5^th ended without progress."

Sudan and Egypt agreed on a proposal to involve the European Union, the United States and the United Nations in the negotiations, in addition to the current AU mediators. Egypt said that Ethiopia rejected the proposal during the meeting, in addition to other proposals to resume negotiations.

Sudanese and Egyptian diplomatic sources and journalists confirmed that the participants in the round of negotiations in Kinshasa agreed to extend the meetings for another day, following disagreements over the drafting of the joint final statement between the three countries, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, according to BBC Arabic, before the explicit announcement of failure.

The sources that spoke to the channel added that the extension decision came because "Egypt and Sudan adhered to the call to expand the mediation to include the United States, the United Nations and the European Union, while Ethiopia adhered to the mediation of the African Union only."

The normalization of relations between Egypt and Turkey lets down the mercenaries and the Brotherhood

Regarding the negotiations between Egypt and Turkey, Al-Arab newspaper quoted Egyptian security sources as saying on Friday that "talks to normalize relations between Cairo and Ankara are not proceeding well due to Egyptian doubts about Turkey's commitment to implementing the required conditions, the foremost among which is the withdrawal of mercenaries from Libya and the handover of Brotherhood leaders wanted by the Egyptian judiciary, amid news of the suspension of talks from the Egyptian side."

This news comes to deny news circulated last week that reconciliation between the two sides is imminent.

While Cairo was waiting for Turkey to withdraw the Syrian mercenaries in western Libya, the Turkish government sent a new batch of 380 fighters during the past days, according to what was published by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The sources emphasized that the process of withdrawing mercenaries from Libya is an essential part of the system of developing relations with Ankara, and it does not tolerate evasion or procrastination, but Turkey has not proven its seriousness in fulfilling this condition until now, and it appears that it purchases time to amend its situation, which is rejected by Egypt because the Brotherhood and mercenaries are essential part in any understanding.

The sources indicated that Turkey's reluctance to withdraw mercenaries is not directed at Egypt only, but rather is a message to European countries exerting political pressure on Ankara in regional issues that they will not yield to them unless it receives a generous price, and will not be able to withdraw its forces and dismantle its military infrastructure in Libya without granting economic guarantees.

Al-Arab learned from diplomatic sources that Ankara links the withdrawal of mercenaries with preserving its economic influence in Libya and not compromising the Libyan investments and funds in Turkey, and it realizes that the new executive authority, both the presidency and the government, wants to gain the confidence of the international community by reducing the bias towards Turkey, and it also finds in the mercenaries getting out paper an opportunity to gain popular confidence before the elections.

Cairo seems skeptical of Turkey's intention to hand over those wanted leaders and members of the Brotherhood organization, and to completely close the group's channels instead of controlling its activities, which made it cautious about the steps of rapprochement to the farthest extent.

On the other hand, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was not sure that Cairo would meet his demands that he awaited as a response to his retreat from supporting the Brotherhood, such as the bias of his side against both Greece and Cyprus.

Tariq Abu al-Saad, an expert on Islamic movement's affairs said that Erdogan did not abandon the Brotherhood's card and considers his relationship with the group as Iran's relationship with Hezbollah, as it is the most important tool for implementing foreign policy and has made progress through it in Libya and northern Syria.

He added that it is his paper to put pressure on regimes and governments, including Egypt, and his means to destabilize the region, and he will not find an alternative to it to achieve his ambitions to expand, approach its wealth and achieve regional influence.

He continued that if he abandoned the Brotherhood in accordance with the Egyptian demands, this means the end of his project based on influencing events in the region, and it is the method that was inspired by Iran achieving gains by supporting and sponsoring ideological sectarian groups, and made Washington tend to negotiate with it."

D.H