Turkey’s top diplomat visits Cairo in effort to mend ties

CAIRO — Turkey’s chief diplomat was in Cairo on Saturday for talks with Egyptian officers because the regional powers search to fix their frayed ties after years of tensions.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey’s overseas minister, landed within the Egyptian capital early Saturday. He was the very best rating Turkish official to go to the Arab World’s most populous nation in over a decade.

Egypt and Turkey have been at loggerheads because the Egyptian navy’s 2013 ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi amid mass protest towards his divisive one yr of rule. Morsi hailed from the Muslim Brotherhood group, supported by Turkey. Egypt has designated the group a terrorist group.

Cavusoglu met with Egyptian Overseas Minister Sameh Shoukry for talks on “numerous points” of bilateral relations, mentioned Ahmed Abu Zaid, a spokesman for the Egyptian overseas ministry Saturday.

He mentioned additionally they mentioned regional and worldwide problems with mutual curiosity, an obvious reference to the battle in Libya and tensions associated to gasoline exploration within the jap Mediterranean Sea.

Abu Zaid mentioned Friday that the conferences are geared toward launching a “deep dialogue” to achieve a “frequent understanding to attain each nations’ pursuits.” A joint information convention was scheduled for later Saturday.

Egypt and Turkey again opposing sides in Libya’s battle, which practically led to a direct confrontation between the 2 U.S. allies in 2020 on the peak of an assault on the Libyan capital by east-based commander Khalifa Hifter, who’s backed by Egypt.

Egypt, Greece and another European nations have been additionally angered by a 2019 deal between Turkey and Libya that sought to spice up Turkish maritime rights and affect within the jap Mediterranean.

Former Turkish Overseas Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was the final highest-ranking official to go to Cairo in 2012 when he attended a Syrian opposition convention held by the Arab League.

Turkey lately deserted its important strategy to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s authorities, because it tried to restore relations.

In November, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and el-Sissi have been photographed shaking fingers throughout the World Cup in Qatar. And final month, Shoukry visited quake-hit Turkey and Syria to point out solidarity with the 2 nations.