Turkish Minister: Erdogan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi to meet after Turkish presidential election

Speaking to his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry during a visit to Cairo, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara was seeking to “restore diplomatic relations between the two countries at the highest level”.

Mr. Shoukry said that “the presidents of our two countries are showing political will…to work towards the normalization of relations”.

Cavusoglu’s visit to Egypt follows Shoukry’s visit to Turkey in February to show solidarity after a devastating earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people in Turkey and neighboring Syria.

“It is possible that there will be disagreements in the future, but we will do everything so that our relations do not break any more,” Mr Cavusoglu said.

Relations soured after the 2013 ousting of Egypt’s Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, an ally of Turkey. RT Erdogan then claimed that he would “never” speak to “anyone” like AF al-Sissi.

But in November, AF al-Sisi and RT Erdogan shook hands in Qatar, in what the Egyptian presidency called a new start for their relationship, and the two leaders spoke by phone after the 6 FEBRUARY.

Cavusoglu said on Saturday that a meeting between RT Erdogan and AF al-Sisi could take place “after the elections in Turkey”, referring to the presidential election on May 14.

If diplomatic communication once cooled, commercial relations have never ceased: in 2022, Turkey was the first importer of Egyptian products: total imports reached 4 billion. U.S. dollars.

However, disagreements remain. Arab journalists living and working in Turkey criticize their governments, especially from Egyptian media close to the Muslim Brotherhood, a group banned by Cairo.

Cairo and Ankara are also at loggerheads over Libya, where Turkey has sent military advisers to support forces opposing Egyptian ally Khalifa Haftar, Libya’s eastern-based military dictator.