Egypt and Turkey agree to reappoint ambassadors in a new sign of a thaw in bilateral relations

2023-05-30 02:36:45

MADRID, 30 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The governments of Egypt and Turkey have agreed on Monday to re-appoint their respective ambassadors in each country, in a new sign of a thaw in relations broken in 2013 after the overthrow of the government of Egyptian Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.

The spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency has reported the decision, moments after the Egyptian president, Abdelfatá al Sisi, called his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom he congratulated on his re-election in the second round of the elections.

“The two presidents have decided to immediately begin deepening diplomatic relations between the two countries, appointing (again) ambassadors,” explained the Egyptian spokesman, who indicated that the leaders “have confirmed the deep historical ties that unite the two countries and peoples”.

Ankara and Cairo have spent the last two years trying to normalize their relations, especially in the commercial field; efforts that came to fruition in November of last year in front of the public, during the opening of the last Soccer World Cup in Qatar, with a personal greeting between Al Sisi and Erdogan.

Both countries took another step in the middle of last month, when the Egyptian foreign minister paid a historic visit to Turkish soil to offer his country’s help in the rescue and reconstruction efforts after the catastrophic earthquakes that killed almost 49,000 in the southern Turkey.

Erdogan had accused Al Sisi ten years earlier of staging a coup “against democracy” by leading the coup against Mursi and outlawing the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the most important Islamist organizations in the world and linked to the ousted president, who died in prison in June 2019.