Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced the possibility of personal talks between Turkish and Egyptian Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi after the foreign ministers of the two countries prepare such a meeting.
"We need to work on the development of relations in various fields. Today at the talks, we discussed what topics we still have to work on. It is not enough to meet for the sake of pictures only. After our talks, our presidents may also meet in Turkey or Egypt. It is the task of the Foreign Ministry to prepare such a meeting, and we will work on it," Çavuşoğlu said on Monday in the city of Mersin at a press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Anadolu news agency reported.
Çavuşoğlu recalled that the presidents already had a brief conversation in 2022. On Nov. 19, el-Sisi and Erdogan held their first meeting after a long period of cooling in the two countries' relations at a ceremony marking the start of the World Cup in Qatar. "When our presidents met, they agreed to further improve relations in all areas. And in fact, bilateral trade and economic cooperation continued even during a period of not very good inter-state relations," the Turkish minister said.
Çavuşoğlu also recalled that during that meeting, the leaders agreed to first achieve talks between the foreign ministers, for which the deputy ministers worked. The talks with Shukri, according to Çavuşoğlu, will continue, as such contacts "are beneficial."
Relations between Turkey and Egypt deteriorated in 2013 after the military deposed Islamist proxy Mohamed Morsi, following which the sides recalled their ambassadors. Erdoğan has repeatedly referred to al-Sisi as a "tyrant," and Ankara describes the July 2013 events as a "military coup. In March 2021, Çavuşoğlu announced the resumption of contacts between Ankara and Cairo at the diplomatic level. While admitting that it would take time to fully establish them, the foreign minister said that the two countries' foreign ministries should maintain ties between their intelligence agencies.
