Erdogan: We seek to restore unity with historical roots with the people of Egypt

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country is seeking to restore what he described as unity with historical roots with the people of Egypt, in his first comment after announced diplomatic talks in Cairo between two delegations from the two countries to repair the tense relations between them.

Erdogan added – in a press statement after performing Friday prayers in a mosque in Istanbul – that his country’s position “towards the Egyptian people is very positive,” and said, “We cannot be enemies of this people.” Read also In preparation for the normalization of relations … 4 files on the table of the first meeting between Egypt and Turkey Who is the Turkish leader, Sadat Onal, who is leading the consultations in Cairo to resolve the dispute with Egypt?Turkish Minister of Trade: We want to improve economic relations with Egypt in parallel with its diplomatic development

He stressed that Turkey “is a proud country, not a country that others determine what it does in foreign policy.”

Yesterday, Thursday, Turkish Vice President Fuad Oktay said that the joint move of Egypt and Turkey would be in the interest of peace and development in the region.

He added that it could not be said that relations with Egypt were completely cut off, as there were intelligence contacts between the two countries.

Oktay praised Egypt’s respect for the Turkish agreement with Libya, when it searched for natural resources outside the borders stipulated in the agreement.

Cairo talks

Yesterday, Thursday, Cairo witnessed the conclusion of the exploratory talks between the delegations of Egypt and Turkey, headed by the two countries’ deputy foreign ministers.

According to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, the negotiations took place at the ministry’s headquarters in Cairo, headed by Ambassador Hamdi Sanad Loza, Deputy Foreign Minister and his Turkish counterpart, Ambassador Sadat Onal, in the first joint meeting held at the diplomatic level between the two sides in 8 years.

In a joint statement, the two sides said that the discussions were frank and in-depth, as they touched on bilateral issues, as well as a number of regional issues, especially the situation in Libya, Syria and Iraq and the need to achieve peace and security in the eastern Mediterranean region.

The statement indicated that the two sides will evaluate the outcome of this round of consultations and agree on next steps.

It is expected that the success of this round will lead to another meeting at the level of the two foreign ministers, the date and venue of which will be decided at a later time.

Relations between the two regional powers have been strained since the Egyptian army in 2013 ousted the democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, and each country expelled the other’s ambassador.