Towards the end of a decade of diplomatic spat between Turkey and Egypt? This is in any case the objective displayed at the press conference held in Cairo, Saturday, March 18, between the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sameh Choukri, and his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

The latter said he "wants to restore diplomatic relations between the two countries at the highest level", explaining that "it is possible that we will disagree in the future but we will do everything to avoid breaking our relations again".

Sameh Choukri confirmed the existence of "a political will emanating from the presidents of the two countries (...) aimed at normalizing their relations".

Erdogan-Sisi meeting

During the press conference, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu assured that "after the Turkish elections", including the presidential election scheduled for May 14, "our president (Recep Tayyip Erdogan) will meet President Sisi."

"We have opened a new page in our relations with Egypt, with whom we have deep ties," the Turkish minister said on Twitter.

Köklü bağlarımız olan Mısır'la ilişkilerimizde yeni bir sayfa açtık.

- Diplomatik ilişkilerimizi en üst seviyeye çıkaracağız, - Ekonomi, ticaret, enerji ve turizm alanlarında işbirliğimizi geliştireceğiz,



- Bölgesel konularda istişareleri ve işbirliğimizi artıracağız. 🇹🇷🇪🇬 pic.twitter.com/WpAxyQ4YIi

— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) March 18, 2023

The United States, for its part, "welcomed" this visit, "an important step for the stability and prosperity of the region," said Saturday, on Twitter, the national security adviser of the White House, Jake Sullivan.

We welcome today's visit to Cairo by Turkey's FM @mevlutcavusoglu for meetings @MFAEgypt with FM Shoukrey, the first such visit in over a decade. An important step towards a more stable and prosperous region.

— Jake Sullivan (@JakeSullivan46) March 18, 2023

Relationship breakdown in 2013

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu received his Egyptian counterpart at the end of February in Turkey, after the earthquake that affected nearly a sixth of the Turkish population.

Relations between Ankara and Cairo were abruptly severed after Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power in 2013. The latter's removal of Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and a great ally of Turkey, made President Erdogan repeat that he would "never" talk to "someone like" Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

In the aftermath of the February 6 earthquake that killed nearly 48,500 people in Turkey, the two men spoke by phone after exchanging their very first handshake in November, at the World Cup in Qatar, another country with which Egypt recently reconnected after accusing it of proximity to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Divergent interests

On the trade front, trade between Egypt and Turkey has never stopped: it has increased from $ 4.4 billion in 2007 to $ 11.1 billion in 2020, notes the Carnegie Research Center. In 2022, Ankara was even the largest importer of Egyptian products worth four billion dollars.

But disagreements remain between the two capitals, as Istanbul has become "the capital" of Arab media critical of their governments, especially those close to the Muslim Brotherhood, considered "terrorists" by Cairo.

And the interests of Cairo and Ankara also diverge in Libya, where Turkey has sent military advisers and drones against Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, a strongman of the East, supported in particular by Egypt.

With AFP

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