The Turkish Defense Minister said today that Egypt's respect for the continental shelf of his country during its exploration activities in the Mediterranean is "a very important development," adding that his country has common historical and cultural values with Egypt.
The Anadolu Agency quoted the Turkish minister as saying - during his supervision of the naval maneuvers of his country's forces in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas - that the Egyptian decision to respect the Turkish maritime authority in the Mediterranean "is also in the interest of the rights and interests of the Egyptian people."
Hulusi Akar expressed his belief in the possibility of concluding an agreement or memorandum of understanding with Egypt in the coming period, in line with the maritime authority agreement concluded with Libya and registered with the United Nations.
On November 27, 2019, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed two memoranda of understanding with the Libyan Prime Minister, Fayez Al-Sarraj, the first relating to security and military cooperation, and the second defining areas of maritime jurisdiction, with the aim of protecting the rights of the two countries stemming from international law.
The Turkish-Libyan agreement angered Egypt, Cyprus and Greece, in light of an atmosphere of tension between Turkey and Greece regarding the sovereignty dispute over regions in the eastern Mediterranean, and friction occurred between the armies of the two countries in the summer of last year.
Are Turkey and Egypt leading together in the eastern Mediterranean region?
(Report)
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Shared values
The Turkish Defense Minister added that common historical and cultural values bring together Turkey and Egypt, expressing his confidence that the activation of these values could be reflected in the occurrence of various developments in the coming days.
The Turkish statements come in light of the decline in tension in relations between Ankara and Cairo, which has its roots in the summer of 2013, since Ankara opposed the military coup against President-elect Mohamed Morsi, when the current President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi was Minister of Defense.
The intensity of the dispute increased with regional developments and conflicts over areas of influence and exploration for gas in the eastern Mediterranean, in addition to the Libyan crisis, which reached the point of confrontation between the two countries, before the two parties separately supported a ceasefire agreement between the Libyan parties.
According to indications, it is expected that the Egyptian-Turkish relations will witness a calm in 2021, but without reaching the return of relations to what they were 7 years ago.
In a related context, the Turkish Defense Minister said that Ankara supports solving problems with Greece within the framework of international law, dialogue and good-neighborly relations, adding that his country is open to negotiation.
Minister Akar pointed out to holding consultative meetings between the foreign ministries of Turkey and Greece, in addition to holding meetings of the two countries' military delegations on methods of conflict resolution at the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).