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Egypt Turkey Relations Back to Square One

When the Turkish military intervened in Libya, in late 2019, Egypt objected the presence of Turkish troops at its western strategic depth. This created a series of clashes that almost reached the brink of a military fight between Egypt and Turkey inside Libya. As a result, a series of security talks had to be initiated between Egyptian and Turkish intelligence bureaus. This was the first direct dialogue between the two countries in about eight years, during which the two countries were deliberately hurting each other’s economic and political interests.
Only in March, talks of reconciliation between Egypt and Turkey began to take a serious form, especially after the success of the Gulf reconciliation between Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt, and Qatar’s intervention to reconcile between Egypt and Turkey. At that stage, the dialogue between the two countries moved to the diplomatic track. In May, a meeting was held in Cairo at the level of Egyptian and Turkish deputy foreign ministers in order to hold exploratory talks on reconciliation.
Optimism about the success of the reconciliation talks between Egypt and Turkey dominated the scene, between March and May. That is especially after Turkey took actual steps to control the propaganda machine against the Egyptian state and president, driven by the Muslim Brotherhood members, who are living in Turkey. Also, Turkish President Erdogan, as well as senior officials of the Turkish government, especially Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, did not spare an opportunity without stressing the importance of relations with Egypt and the sincerity of Turkey's intentions to turn the page on the past and resolve the issues that caused the rift in Egyptian-Turkish relations.
Yet, unfortunately, contradicting moves of Turkey and Egypt, in the last two months, indicate that Egyptian-Turkish relations have begun to deteriorate again. The second round of exploratory talks was supposed to be held, in Ankara, in June. But that never happened and there is no clear official statement explaining why. Most likely, the Egyptian court decision, in June, to execute leading figures of the Muslim Brotherhood is the real reason behind that. There was a strong objection, in Turkish media and political circles, on the Egyptian court decision. Turkey is one of the strongest international supporters to political Islamist groups in the Middle East, including the Muslim Brotherhood. Egyptian leadership saw this as an intervention into a domestic issue by Turkey and thus breaks one of Egypt’s provisions to reconcile with Turkey.
Since then, Egypt took strong stances against Turkey on most of the regional issues directly affecting or affected by the Turkish leadership. On July 20th, the Egyptian President met with the Greek Prime Minister, in Cairo, and confirmed Egypt’s full support to Greece in its struggle against those who want to infringe its sovereignty. The next day, the President El-Sisi received Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs, in Cairo, and confirmed his support and admiration to her strong stance against the presence of foreign troops on Libyan soil. Although El-Sisi did not mention Turkey by name, in any of the two meetings, but it did not need much effort to guess.
With the escalation of the forest fire crisis that affected a large sector of southern Turkey, as well as some of the Greek islands, causing a humanitarian and economic crisis, Egypt chose to help Greece and not to help Turkey. On one hand, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement of condolence and support to the Turkish people, without mentioning the Turkish regime at all. Perhaps, this was a response to the Turkish official statements of support to the Egyptian people during the train accident crisis, that killed dozens earlier this year. Meanwhile, the Egyptian Armed Forces sent fully-equipped Chinook helicopters to Greece to participate in firefighting efforts. The official statement issued by the Egyptian Armed Forces in this regard described this procedure, as “Egypt's commitment to support brotherly and friendly countries in times of crisis.” Undoubtedly, this caused a lot of disappointment towards Egypt inside Turkey.
However, it seems that Egypt's position regarding the forest fires disaster came as an equal response to Turkey's provocative position on Egypt’s conflict with Ethiopia over the Nile River. In early August, Turkish President Erdogan made a call with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in which he affirmed his solidarity with Abiy Ahmed's government's position on the internal and external conflicts it is involved in, and that “Turkey will continue to provide all kinds of support to Ethiopia.” With these statements, President Erdogan has clearly chosen to stand against Egypt in its conflict with Ethiopia, which represents a matter of life or death to Egyptians. This is despite the fact that in March, Turkey proposed to help Egypt resolve the conflict over the Renaissance Dam, as Turkey is the third largest investor in Ethiopia’s operational capital, after China and Saudi Arabia.
All these indicators tell us one thing: unfortunately, the Egyptian-Turkish reconciliation is standing on the brink of failure; if it had not failed already. More political clashes, that will affect the entire region, are expected to intensify between the two countries in the next months.

BY: Dalia Ziada
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BENEFIT AGM approves 10%...
- March 27, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the company’s headquarters in the Seef District.
During the meeting, shareholders approved all items listed on the agenda, including the ratification of the minutes of the previous AGM held on 26 March 2024. The session reviewed and approved the Board’s Annual Report on the company’s activities and financial performance for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2024, and the shareholders expressed their satisfaction with the company’s operational and financial results during the reporting period.
The meeting also reviewed the Independent External Auditor’s Report on the company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. Subsequently, the shareholders approved the audited financial statements for the fiscal year. Based on the Board’s recommendation, the shareholders approved the distribution of a cash dividend equivalent to 10% of the paid-up share capital.
Furthermore, the shareholders endorsed the allocation of a total amount of BD 172,500 as remuneration to the members of the Board for the year ended 31 December 2024, subject to prior clearance by related authorities.
The extension of the current composition of the Board was approved, which includes ten members and one CBB observer, for a further six-month term, expiring in September 2025, pending no objection from the CBB.
The meeting reviewed and approved the Corporate Governance Report for 2024, which affirmed the company’s full compliance with the corporate governance directives issued by the CBB and other applicable regulatory frameworks. The AGM absolved the Board Members of liability for any of their actions during the year ending on 31st December 2024, in accordance with the Commercial Companies Law.
In alignment with regulatory requirements, the session approved the reappointment of Ernst & Young (EY) as the company’s External Auditors for the fiscal year 2025, covering both the parent company and its subsidiaries—Sinnad and Bahrain FinTech Bay. The Board was authorised to determine the external auditors’ professional fees, subject to approval from the CBB, and the meeting concluded with a discussion of any additional issues as per Article (207) of the Commercial Companies Law.
Speaking on the company’s performance, Mr. Mohamed Al Bastaki, Chairman BENEFIT , stated: “In terms of the financial results for 2024, I am pleased to say that the year gone by has also been proved to be a success in delivering tangible results. Growth rate for 2024 was 19 per cent. Revenue for the year was BD 17 M (US$ 45.3 Million) and net profit was 2 Million ($ 5.3 Million).
Mr. Al Bastaki also announced that the Board had formally adopted a new three-year strategic roadmap to commence in 2025. The strategy encompasses a phased international expansion, optimisation of internal operations, enhanced revenue diversification, long-term sustainability initiatives, and the advancement of innovation and digital transformation initiatives across all service lines.
“I extend my sincere appreciation to the CBB for its continued support of BENEFIT and its pivotal role in fostering a stable and progressive regulatory environment for the Kingdom’s banking and financial sector—an environment that has significantly reinforced Bahrain’s standing as a leading financial hub in the region,” said Mr. Al Bastaki. “I would also like to thank our partner banks and valued customers for their trust, and our shareholders for their ongoing encouragement. The achievements of 2024 set a strong precedent, and I am confident they will serve as a foundation for yet another successful and impactful year ahead.”
Chief Executive of BENEFIT; Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi commented, “The year 2024 represented another pivotal chapter in BENEFIT ’s evolution. We achieved substantial progress in advancing our digital strategy across multiple sectors, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to the development of Bahrain’s financial services and payments landscape. Throughout the year, we remained firmly aligned with our objective of delivering measurable value to our shareholders, strategic partners, and customers. At the same time, we continued to play an active role in enabling Bahrain’s digital economy by introducing innovative solutions and service enhancements that directly address market needs and future opportunities.”
Mr. AlJanahi affirmed that BENEFIT has successfully developed a robust and well-integrated payment network that connects individuals and businesses across Bahrain, accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies in the banking and financial services sector and reinforcing Bahrain’s position as a growing fintech hub, and added, “Our achievements of the past year reflect a long-term vision to establish a resilient electronic payment infrastructure that supports the Kingdom’s digital economy. Key developments in 2024 included the implementation of central authentication for open banking via BENEFIT Pay”
Mr. AlJanahi concluded by thanking the Board for its strategic direction, the company’s staff for their continued dedication, and the Central Bank of Bahrain, member banks, and shareholders for their valuable partnership and confidence in the company’s long-term vision.
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