Turkey unlikely to extradite Egyptian dissidents after ties restored: security source

As Egyptian-Turkish ties are about to be fully restored after a decade-long-rift, one question has emerged: what is the fate of Egyptian dissidents who have taken refuge in Turkey following the military coup that overthrew the first democratically-elected president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013?

A large number of Egyptians who have gone into self-exile in Turkey over the past ten years are reportedly Muslim Brotherhood group members, an organisation that was designated illegal in Egypt since 2014, group sympathisers or opposition figures in general, many of them initiated satellite TV channels that have been vocally criticising Egypt's regime.

While unconfirmed reports indicated that the Turkish authorities intended to hand over those dissidents "as a gesture of goodwill," a high-level security source stationed in Turkey told The New Arab, on condition of anonymity, that "this is very unlikely to happen."

"Egypt has already asked Turkey to hand them over, but the Turkish government refused for most of these dissidents had already acquired Turkish citizenship or at least a residency and cannot be legally deported," the source explained.

"Security authorities in both countries had earlier agreed to stop exchanging criticism whether through Egyptian media, loyal to the regime, or channels and news outlets in Turkey run by Egyptian opposition, following the recent rapprochement between the two countries," the source added.

Most recently, TNA learnt that the Turkish authorities detained 12 Egyptians who had reportedly crossed into Turkey illegally through the borders with Syria and held them inside Gaziantep immigration detention, southeast of the country.

"The 12 detainees did not involve any known figures wanted by Egypt," a source at the Egyptian embassy in Istanbul, who declined to be named, told TNA without elaborating on their fate.

Based on official figures and estimates published in recent years, from nine to 14 million Egyptians live abroad, and tens of thousands have been living in self-exile to avoid repression at home, especially Muslim Brotherhood members or supporters.

Meanwhile, Turkish news outlets recently said that Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi is expected to visit Turkey later this month to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in reports not officially confirmed by Egypt.

Egypt-Turkey reconciliation is part of a more extensive recalibration of the region's political landscape that involved restoring ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran and Cairo's normalisation of ties with Tehran at a later stage.