Turkey, Egypt to hold political consultations in Cairo

“Political consultations between Turkey and Egypt, co-chaired by H.E Ambassador Mr. Sedat Önal, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey and H.E Ambassador Mr. Hamdi Sanad Loza, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt will be held on 5-6th May 2021 in Cairo,” the Ministry said.

“These exploratory discussions will focus on necessary steps that may lead towards the normalization of relations between the two countries bilaterally and in the regional context,” the Ministry added.

After Egyptian army chief General (Defence minister appointed by President Mohamed Morsi) Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted the nation's first freely elected president, Mohamed Morsi, in a coup, signs of strained relations rose between the newly appointed interim government of Egypt and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government in Turkey, mainly due to Erdoğan's pro-Brotherhood views, culminating with the August 2013 sit-in raids in Rabaa and Nahda by security forces, where sit-ins organized by the Muslim Brotherhood were dispersed, leading to clashes that resulted in 638 deaths.

The incident resulted in both countries recalling their respective ambassadors and was met with several verbal assaults by Erdoğan, who described the event as “anti-democratic” and referred to it as a “massacre,” while suggesting that Egypt's leaders should be put under a “fair and transparent trial.” This was followed by a suspension of military exercises involving the two countries.

Erdoğan also accused the Egyptian military of conspiring with israel to topple Morsi's government at an expanded meeting of the provincial chairs of his ruling AKP and claimed to possess “proof” for that: “This is what has been implemented in Egypt. Who is behind this? Israel. We have evidence”.

On 23 November 2013, the Egyptian government expelled the Turkish ambassador to the country, Huseyin Avni Botsali, and recalled their ambassador from Ankara indefinitely after several months of tensions with Turkey's ruling AKP-led government. In response, Turkey also barred the Egyptian ambassador, who was out of the country at the time and declared him a persona non grata.

In March, Turkey claimed said that they have resumed their diplomatic contacts with Egypt (at the level of intelligence and foreign ministries) after breaking off relations since 2013. (ILKHA)