Turkish delegation to visit Egypt for ‘normalization’ talks in May

A Turkish delegation will visit Egypt next month as part of Ankara’s efforts to mend ties, the foreign minister said on Thursday.

“Egypt invited a delegation from Turkey. The delegation will go in early May,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the private NTV broadcaster. “We will discuss openly how to normalize relations.”

Turkey and Egypt froze ties after the 2013 overthrow of ex-Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, who forged close ties with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

That year, both countries expelled each others’ ambassadors and Cairo had then declared the Turkish envoy “persona non grata.”

But Turkish officials last month said Ankara had established the first diplomatic contacts with Cairo since 2013 as part of wider efforts to repair relations with other Middle Eastern rivals.

Cavusoglu on Thursday said the first delegation talks would be at the level of deputy foreign ministers, ahead of a contact between the ministers.

“I hope we will all together further improve relations,” he said.

(AFP)