Turkey and Egypt are on the way to completing procedures to improve relations – Details
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu is on his first visit in a decade to the Arab Republic of Egypt to complete normalization measures after years of estrangement, against the backdrop of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his regime’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced that Davutoglu will visit Cairo today for talks with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.
According to the Anadolu News Agency, the two ministers are expected to discuss all aspects of Turkish-Egyptian relations and exchange views on regional and international issues.
Sources familiar with Egyptian-Turkish relations told Asharq al-Awsat that President Abdul Fattah el-Sisi would welcome Davutoglu and his delegation during his visit.
The meeting is expected to discuss “more advanced measures” to normalize relations between the two countries, and Cairo is “open to a number of future measures that will contribute to bringing points of view closer, both bilaterally and in relation to regional issues of importance to both countries.”
For his part, Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid said that the visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister to Egypt “is considered to inaugurate the process of restoring normal relations between the two countries, and to launch an in-depth dialog on various aspects of bilateral relations and regional and international issues of common interest, with the aim of reaching a common understanding that would serve the interests of the two brotherly countries and peoples.”
He was received by his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. The visit to Adana by Çavuşoğlu took place in late February.
It was the first diplomatic visit to Turkey by an Egyptian foreign minister since the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
In a press conference with his Egyptian counterpart during the visit, the Turkish Foreign Minister said that Egypt is a very important country for the Arab world and the Middle East region, noting that the development of relations with Cairo is beneficial for both countries.
He promised to move relations with Egypt to a higher level, noting that a meeting between the presidents of Turkey and Egypt could be held in the near future.
Relations between the two countries were strained following the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi in 2013 after mass demonstrations. Regional issues such as the Libyan crisis and tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean further inflamed relations between the two countries.
