Turkey hails ‘new era’ with Egypt after tensions

ANKARA — Turkey’s foreign minister hailed the start of “a new era” with Egypt as Ankara pushes ahead with normalising relations with Cairo, local media reported on Wednesday.

Turkey and Egypt broke off relations after the 2013 overthrow of ex-Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, who was supported by Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

That year Turkey and Egypt expelled each others’ ambassadors and froze their relations.

Turkish officials said last month Ankara had established the first diplomatic contacts with Cairo since 2013 as part of wider efforts to fix ties with other Middle Eastern rivals.

“A new era is beginning,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted as saying by NTV broadcaster.

He said there would be a meeting between the two countries’ deputy foreign ministers and diplomats but a date had not yet been set.

Cavusoglu told Turkish reporters that the appointment of ambassadors “will come up on the agenda” during those talks.

When asked, the minister also indicated there would be meetings between himself and his Egyptian counterpart.

“Why not. There can be reciprocal visits and meetings, too,” Cavusoglu said.

Last month, members of Egypt’s Istanbul-based opposition media said Turkish officials had asked them to “tone down” criticism of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi.

The request appeared to be an attempt by Turkey to curry favour with Egypt in a bid to mend relations.