Turkey should never have severed ties with Egypt in the first place. I was against it from the very beginning, continuously saying that it would have ramifications not only for Turkey and Egypt but also for the entire region. Turkey’s attitude toward the coup in Egypt has been on point, but despite this, it was wrong to suspend our relations. Those who know this know, and those who do not, should by now.

No, I did not change my opinion because the government changed its policy. I always act in accordance with the truth, not the government. Hence, I openly wrote and stated on television from the very beginning that it was wrong to suspend ties with Egypt. So, what happened then? I was viciously insulted!

Those who smeared my name and ordered that I be attacked, those who wrote opinion pieces on this, will they change their tune now?

Will they apologize?

Of course, it makes no sense to expect agents of dishonor to apologize.

Needless to say, our pursuit of the truth will never end – even during the most challenging of times.

As long as we continue to seek the truth in any state and under every circumstance, I never doubted our capacity to transform the past two centuries of destruction into an opportunity to thrive through suffering.

Back to the subject of what the resumption of Turkey-Egypt signifies:

Above all, Turkey and Egypt are both two historic actors in the region. I will not mention the determining role Turkey played in Egyptian history since the emergence of Islam. It is not all that simple.

Egypt is the Arab world’s historical, political, cultural and intellectual leader. The Arab world’s destiny is to an extent shaped according to the developments in Egypt. Rather than focusing on temporary political events, permanent, rooted cultural and intellectual developments need to continue nonstop, increasingly strengthening.

Political developments may indeed harm relations from time to time, but they must never hinder them; this should not be allowed. Thus, strong cultural and intellectual channels, pathways and opportunities must be forged.

Political events are temporary, while cultural relations, steps, initiatives, exchanges are permanent, rooted and pave the way for the future. If cultural ties are strong, relations between countries are not strongly affected by political changes or tremors.

In the upcoming period, we must concentrate on laying the foundations of permanent cultural and intellectual ties with the whole Arab world, with Africa and, of course, with the Turkic world. We must make efforts and strive to instill a common civilization understanding and ideal in every field.

We must always keep in mind that Damascus, Cairo, Bukhara, Tashkent, Samarkand, Kashgar, Delhi, Jakarta, Sarajevo, Skopje, and in Turkey’s Istanbul, Konya, Erzurum, Bursa, Edirne, the founding cities of our civilization, are all sister cities.

Cities are like the arteries of civilizations. If circulation continues, then so does life and therefore, there is hope.

Ties with Egypt can never be severed! Because when Turkey and Egypt support each other, it will be easier to drive imperialists out of the region. The region is under siege by Western imperialists and their puppet, Persian imperialism!

It needs to be known that imperialists will resort to every ploy to divide the Muslim world. During this process, they will always pave the way for Persians to cut the Muslim world in half! The “dispute” between the West and Iran is nothing other than chicanery; it is a veiling operation to pave the way for each another.

Thus, keeping our relations strong with both Egypt and Iran to avoid falling into this trap, in one way or another, prevents Western attempts to utilize Iran.

The renewal of our relations with Egypt will provide the opportunity for closed doors to open in the medium and long term, while also allowing the founding actors of the region – rather than imperialists – to shape the region’s destiny.

The gradual process of liberating Egypt as well as Arab countries from the grips of imperialists has begun.

Let us hope that as Turkey and Egypt start to mend their relations, this will also be a start to the true independence of the Muslim world.

If we come as we are, in unity and solidarity, then imperialists will be have to leave of their own free will.