Egypt Hopes to See Normalization of Ties With Turkey, FM Says

Egypt hopes to resume normalize relations with Turkey, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Saturday, in a sign that reflects the desire to overcome years of estrangement that defined the relations between two Muslim countries.

Speaking to the official Akhbar Al-Youm, the foreign minister spoke about relations with Turkey, which hit the bottom since 2013 military intervention in Egypt that toppled Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi, the first civilian president democratically elected in half a century.

“There is no doubt that there a lot of bonds between the Egyptian and Turkish people,” the minister said.

Egypt, he underscored, is always open to normalization of the relations as long as Turkey commits to the principle of non-interference in Egypt’s domestic affairs.

“The situation with Turkey remains the same and we reiterate our desire to overcome any tension based on the principle of Egypt’s internal affairs,” he noted.

Turkey’s Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) government had close ties with Muslim Brotherhood. Ankara steadfastly opposed removal of President Morsi from power and refused to recognize the administration of Gen. Abdel Fettah al-Sisi after he became the president in 2014 in a presidential election.