( 3 minutes read)
- Turkey continued to reach out to regional rivals Egypt and the United Arab Emirates in a bid to ease regional tensions and to renew diplomatic relations
- Mevlut Cavusoglu, foreign minister of Turkey said his country was taking positive steps to improve relations with both estranged nations
- Turkey and Cairo have not shared ambassadors since 2013
- Turkey has been at loggerheads with Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia over a number of issues, including conflict in Libya
Turkey continued to reach out to regional rivals Egypt and the United Arab Emirates in a bid to ease regional tensions and to renew diplomatic relations.
Mevlut Cavusoglu, foreign minister of Turkey said his country was taking positive steps to improve relations with both estranged nations. Turkish and Egyptian officials were holding a second round of talks in Ankara. Turkey and Cairo have not shared ambassadors since 2013. The relations got worsened between the two countries following the ousting of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi by the then military chief Abdel Fattah al-Sis and now the country’s president.
Turkey has been at loggerheads with Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia over a number of issues, including conflict in Libya. Ankara backed the UN-recognized administration in Tripoli. Its Arab rivals, in the meantime supported an opposing faction, which let loose atrocities in the oil rich Libya. The Turkey’s foreign minister said that there was the possibility of striking a maritime deal with Egypt in the eastern Mediterranean. This will be similar to the one struck with the Tripoli government in late 2019.
Cavusoglu proposed a summit of eastern Mediterranean nations to reconcile disputes including the UAE. He also said that there were encouraging developments in the normalization process with the US also over its purchase of a Russian air defense system, which the US did not take kindly on account of a prevailing defense treaty between Moscow and Ankara. Situation had become a boiling point during former US President Donald Trump.
