ABSTRACT In spite of intense developments in Turkish–Egyptian relations since the eruption of the Arab uprisings in 2011, few scholarly writings have examined the abrupt shifts in the AKP's policy toward Egypt from 2011 until 2024. Aiming to fill in this gap, this study argues that shifts in the AKP's policy toward Egypt from alliance to confrontation with the Egyptian regime, followed by a rapprochement starting from 2018, are due to the party's changing perception of Turkish national role. Drawing on the national role theory, this study unveils factors underpinning alterations in the AKP's policy toward Egypt in light of changes in its perception of the Turkish regional role in response to national and regional transformations. It contends that the AKP's perception of Turkey's national role as a role model toward Egypt metamorphosed into an alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood from 2011 until 2013, while President Morsi's ousting from power and the rising secular threat prompted the AKP's adoption of an antagonist role from 2013 until 2024, which gradually turned into a reconciliation starting from 2018 following the ascension of the AKP‐MHP electoral coalition to power. This study relies on 30 extensive open‐ended and semi‐structured in‐depth expert interviews conducted by the author with Egyptian and Turkish decision‐makers in Cairo, Istanbul, and Ankara, in addition to the content analysis of newsfeeds and Turkish leaders' speeches during the period from 2011 until 2024.
Shaimaa Magued (Sun,) studied this question.