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Turkish Opposition Builds Bridge to Egypt

Two prominent diplomats affiliated with the Republican People's Party are trying to repair ties between Ankara and Cairo.

A man holds posters depicting Egypt's top general, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as Turkish supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi demonstrate  outside the Egyptian embassy in Ankara on August 8, 2013. AFP PHOTO / ADEM ALTAN        (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images)
A man holds posters depicting Egypt's top general, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as Turkish supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi demonstrate outside the Egyptian Embassy in Ankara, Aug. 8, 2013. — ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images

Free of domestic politicking, Turkish foreign policy may have once focused only on promoting national interests in a dangerous and turbulent geopolitical environment. Today, however, it has become an extension of the political struggle between the Islamist government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the country's secular opposition. This struggle resurfaced again this week during a visit to Egypt by senior deputies from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), who also happen to be among Turkey’s most prominent former diplomats.

The delegation included Faruk Logoglu, a seasoned diplomat who has served as ambassador to Washington, and Osman Koruturk who served as Turkish ambassador to Berlin and Paris before retiring and joining the CHP in 2010.

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