Turkish-Egyptian talks begin to normalize relations

The Turkish-Egyptian political consultation for the resumption of the bilateral relations after an 8-year hiatus resumed Thursday, on the second day on a row in Cairo.

The talks, which are led by Egypt’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hamdi Loza and Turkey’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sedat Önal, started on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the ministry spokesman, Ahmed Hafez.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that these “exploratory discussions” will focus on necessary steps that may lead to the normalization of relations between the two countries at the bilateral level and in the regional context.

Turkish-Egyptian ties have strained since 2013 when Erdogan criticized the Jaune 30 Revolution that thwarted the ruling of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group. Also, Turkey’s relations with some Gulf countries strained due to its support to terrorists and interference into other neighboring countries’ affairs like Libya and Syria.

In March, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry affirmed the government’s keenness to maintain a close relationship between the two people of Egypt and Turkey regardless of the ‘negative political stances’ of Ankara against Cairo.

He added during the meeting of the Foreign Relations Committee in the House of Representatives, that no relations or communications between the two countries ‘outside the normal diplomatic channels.

Shoukry said that if the Turkish policy towards Egypt witnessed many changes in regard to non-interfering in internal affairs, and adopting a similar political approach to the Egyptian one, in this case, this would be a solid ground for starting a normal relationship between the two countries.