Turkey, Egypt to Resume Diplomatic Relations and Hold Ministerial Meetings

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday, November 27 that a process of rebuilding relations between Turkey and Egypt is taking place, starting with a ministerial meeting between the two sides.

This comes after a symbolic handshake that took place between Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

In a televised debate recorded in Turkey’s Konya province, Erdogan added that he and Al-Sisi spoke for about 30 to 45 minutes at that meeting in Qatar.

“We had focused talks with Mr. Sisi there and said that now we will allow low-level ministers to meet,” he said. “Things could be as good with Syria as this deal is now with Egypt.”

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also told reporters in Ankara that Turkey and Egypt may restore full diplomatic ties and re-appoint ambassadors mutually “in coming months.”

From Egypt’s side, there has not been any comment on the meeting of the two leaders.

The two countries have not seen eye to eye since 2013, when former Muslim Brotherhood-aligned president Mohammed Morsi was ousted. Turkey has long been known as the regional hub for the Muslim Brotherhood’s international organization, and Erdogan has defended the Muslim Brotherhood publicly several times.

Though there have been attempts to normalize relations since last year, as the two countries started consultations between senior foreign ministry officials, the relations were halted in the wake of Ankara’s recent oil deal with Libya’s Tripoli-based government.

Turkey supports a Tripoli-based government of national unity led by Abdelhamid Dubeiba, but Egypt believes Dubeiba’s government no longer has the authority to govern the country.