Egyptian and Turkish ministers agree to improve relations after decade of tension
Appointment of envoys discussed during talks between Cavusoglu and Shoukry in Ankara
Egypt and Turkey have agreed to improve ties after a decade of tension during a meeting of their foreign ministers in Ankara.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he and his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry had discussed the appointment of ambassadors and a meeting between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Mr Erdogan faces elections next month.
Relations between the two nations became tense in 2013 when Egypt’s military removed president Mohamed Morsi, who was a member of the nowbanned Muslim Brotherhood.
The move by the military, then led by Mr El Sisi, took place amid protests against Mr Morsi’s divisive one-year rule.
Ties have also been tense over Libya. Egypt and Turkey have supported rival factions in the North African nation, which has been riven by turmoil and violence since a Nato-backed uprising in 2011.
Mr Shoukry and Mr Cavusoglu met in Cairo last month and in Turkey in February, when the Egyptian Foreign Minister visited to show solidarity after the death of 50,000 people there and in Syria in a double earthquake.
“It is time to take concrete steps,” Mr Cavusoglu said earlier this week about relations with Egypt.
“During Mr Shoukry’s visit, we can take steps to appoint ambassadors.”
The planned meeting between Mr El Sisi and Mr Erdogan would be their second since November, when they met at the World Cup in Qatar. It was their first meeting since Mr El Sisi took office in 2014.
Egyptian officials had said Mr Shoukry would press Turkey about Cairo’s demand that Egyptian militants convicted in their absence on terrorism charges and living in exile in Turkey be extradited.
These number about 50, officials said, and are mostly alleged members of Hasm, an armed offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood blamed by Egyptian authorities for deadly attacks against army and police officers following the removal of Mr Morsi.
Mr Shoukry also wished to repeat Cairo’s demand that mercenaries sent to Libya by Turkey to help the government in Tripoli be withdrawn, the officials said.
The Tripoli-based administration is one of two rival governments in Libya, with the second one based in the east of the country.
Equally important for Egypt is the need for Turkey not to interfere in the plans it shares with its allies, especially Ankara’s rivals Cyprus and Greece, to turn the Eastern Mediterranean into a regional energy source following the discovery of vast natural gas reserves in the area.
There has been tension between the countries since Egypt’s military removed president Mohamed Morsi in 2013