Egypt, Türkiye Appoint Ambassadors to Upgrade Diplomatic Relations

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri shakes hands with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Cairo last April (AP)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri shakes hands with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Cairo last April (AP)
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Egypt, Türkiye Appoint Ambassadors to Upgrade Diplomatic Relations

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri shakes hands with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Cairo last April (AP)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri shakes hands with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Cairo last April (AP)

Egypt and Türkiye have appointed ambassadors to each other's capitals for the first time in a decade to restore normal diplomatic relations, their foreign ministries announced on Tuesday.
Consultations between senior foreign ministry officials in Ankara and Cairo began in 2021 as Türkiye sought better ties with Egypt.
Normalization between Ankara and Cairo accelerated after Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan shook hands in Doha at the World Cup in 2022.
Sisi and Erdogan agreed to exchange ambassadors in May.
Amr Elhamamy will become Egypt's ambassador in Ankara while Türkiye nominated Salih Mutlu Sen to become its ambassador in Cairo, the Egyptian foreign ministry said.



Blinken Says More than a Third of Israeli Forces in Lebanon Have Withdrawn

A member of the Spanish UNIFIL peacekeepers forces stands in front of the rubble of destroyed buildings during a patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Borj al-Mlouk, near the border with Israel, on January 7, 2025, amid a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
A member of the Spanish UNIFIL peacekeepers forces stands in front of the rubble of destroyed buildings during a patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Borj al-Mlouk, near the border with Israel, on January 7, 2025, amid a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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Blinken Says More than a Third of Israeli Forces in Lebanon Have Withdrawn

A member of the Spanish UNIFIL peacekeepers forces stands in front of the rubble of destroyed buildings during a patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Borj al-Mlouk, near the border with Israel, on January 7, 2025, amid a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
A member of the Spanish UNIFIL peacekeepers forces stands in front of the rubble of destroyed buildings during a patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Borj al-Mlouk, near the border with Israel, on January 7, 2025, amid a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said that more than a third of Israeli forces in Lebanon have withdrawn since the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Blinken, speaking to reporters in Paris, said that while challenges remain, the oversight mechanism put together by the United States and France to address concerns about ceasefire violations is working and functioning well.