Egypt

As 2014 continued with instability in the Middle East, Turkey remained surrounded by tensions in the region. Turkey remained embroiled in frozen conflicts with Israel, Egypt and Syria, while opening a new page with the new administration in Iraq.

The year 2014 could be summarized as the year of elections for Turkey that resulted in the overall change in the political system with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan becoming the first president elected through popular vote, while Ahmet Davutoğlu took over the chairmanship of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Prime Ministry.

The United Arab Emirates said Dec. 30 that it will not allow screening of Hollywood's Biblical epic "Exodus: Gods and Kings," mirroring similar bans by Egypt and Morocco.

The National Media Council, charged with vetting films for release in the UAE, said the Ridley Scott movie about Moses's escape from pharaonic Egypt contained "religious and historical mistakes."

Egypt has banned Hollywood’s big screen biblical epic “Exodus: Gods and Kings,” a 20th Century Fox spokesman has said to Reuters. The studio owned by 21st Century Fox Inc. declined to give a reason for the ban, but films that depict biblical figures have been prohibited before in the Muslim country.

BELGRADE - The 8th international film and music festival Kustendorf will be held in Drvengrad on Mokra Gora from January 21 to 26.

The competitive programme will comprise 17 movies from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Holland, Iceland, Romania, Israel, Croatia, Germany, Belgium, France, Hungary, Egypt, Russia, the USA and Serbia and the awards will bew the gold, silver and bronze eggs.

Ankara wants to repair its relationship with Cairo, but Egypt needs to take steps "to end human rights violations" against its people, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said, noting there has been attempts to establish a dialogue between two countries.

Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute, does not beat around the bush. “On Syria, Turkey needs to cut and run. Built a wall on its border and turn away,” he said when we talked last month in Istanbul.

Turkey’s bilateral ties with Egypt could “normalize if the country properly returns to democracy, if the Egyptian people’s free will is reflected in politics and social life,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç said.

Egyptian and Qatari intelligence officials met in Cairo to discuss a possible reconciliation as part of Saudi efforts to broker an end to the 18-month standoff over Doha's support of the Muslim Brotherhood, security sources said.

Egypt kept its Rafah border crossing with Gaza open for a third day on Dec. 23, state media said, after nearly 2,000 people used the terminal in the first two days.