Turkey attempts rapprochement with Egypt after two days of talks

Preliminary negotiations for a normalization of relations between Turkey and Egypt ended Thursday in Cairo.

At the end of two days of talks between deputy foreign ministers, the two parties agreed to assess the results of this first contact and the follow-up to be given.

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Preliminary negotiations for a normalization of relations between Turkey and Egypt ended Thursday in Cairo.

At the end of two days of talks between deputy foreign ministers, the two parties agreed to assess the results of this first contact and the follow-up to be given.

Relations between Ankara and Cairo have been strained since the removal of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamad Morsi in 2013.

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With our correspondent in Cairo

,

Alexandre Buccianti

Egypt and Turkey, cold for a decade against the backdrop of

geopolitical tensions in the eastern Mediterranean

, have started a diplomatic warming which promises to be slow as the mistrust between the two countries remains deep.

The two countries have come a long way: relations deteriorated sharply after the dismissal in 2013 of the first democratically elected president of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, from the Muslim Brotherhood and supported by Turkey.

But these two allies of the United States, who have come under increasing pressure from Washington since the departure of Donald Trump, seek to ease tensions with their neighbors, in a region which in recent years has been the scene of a sharp struggle for influences between regional powers.

Libya, a sensitive subject

" 

The discussions were frank and in-depth,

 " said the final statement, reports our correspondent in Cairo,

Alexandre Buccianti.

On asylum to the Muslim Brotherhood, Turkish diplomacy had to underline the lowering of tone with regard to the Egyptian power of the Brotherhood's satellite TV channels broadcasting from Istanbul following the directives of Ankara. For eastern Mediterranean gas, Ankara can advance the de-escalation it recently undertook with Greece.

While common ground can be found on these two issues, Libya remains a stumbling block.

Libya, a country torn apart for a decade by conflict and where Turkey and Egypt support two opposing camps.

Turkey refused, on the eve of its delegation's arrival in Cairo, to withdraw its forces from Libya.

But since the appointment in March of a

new Libyan prime minister

, both Cairo and Ankara have been more open to a political settlement in Tripoli.

Egypt, which has moved closer to the new Libyan government,

demands the departure of all foreign forces from the country with which it shares a border of more than a thousand kilometers.

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To read: Turkey and Libya strengthen their cooperation

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  • Egypt

  • Turkey

  • Diplomacy

  • Recep Tayyip Erdogan

  • Abdel Fattah al-Sissi

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