High-Level Talks with Egypt Could Take Place, Erdogan Says

19 July 2022, Iran, Tehran: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a joint press conference with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at the Saadabad Presidential Palace in Tehran. (Iranian presidency/dpa)
19 July 2022, Iran, Tehran: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a joint press conference with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at the Saadabad Presidential Palace in Tehran. (Iranian presidency/dpa)
TT

High-Level Talks with Egypt Could Take Place, Erdogan Says

19 July 2022, Iran, Tehran: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a joint press conference with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at the Saadabad Presidential Palace in Tehran. (Iranian presidency/dpa)
19 July 2022, Iran, Tehran: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a joint press conference with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at the Saadabad Presidential Palace in Tehran. (Iranian presidency/dpa)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday there is no reason for high-level talks with Egypt not to take place, as its efforts to mend ties with Cairo remain stagnant.

"Talks on the lower levels are continuing. It is not out of the question for this to happen on higher levels, so long as we understand each other," Erdogan told state broadcaster TRT Haber in an interview, adding that the two countries should avoid making statements "hurting" one another.

Turkey launched a charm offensive in 2020 to repair ties with regional countries, making overtures to Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Efforts with Cairo have so far yielded little progress.



UN Deeply Concerned as 45 Lebanese Soldiers Killed amid Israel-Hezbollah War

 A general view shows Mais al-Jabal in southern Lebanon amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from northern Israel, November 25, 2024. (Reuters)
A general view shows Mais al-Jabal in southern Lebanon amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from northern Israel, November 25, 2024. (Reuters)
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UN Deeply Concerned as 45 Lebanese Soldiers Killed amid Israel-Hezbollah War

 A general view shows Mais al-Jabal in southern Lebanon amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from northern Israel, November 25, 2024. (Reuters)
A general view shows Mais al-Jabal in southern Lebanon amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from northern Israel, November 25, 2024. (Reuters)

The United Nations said it is “deeply alarmed” by escalating hostilities between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, and is concerned at numerous attacks on the Lebanese Armed Forces which says 45 of its soldiers have lost their lives.

The Lebanese military has declared its “non-involvement” in the ongoing Israeli-Hezbollah hostilities, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday.

Dujarric said UN special coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert was in Israel on Monday for talks with senior Israeli officials on the urgent need for a ceasefire and implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. The resolution calls for the Lebanese army to deploy in southern Lebanon bordering Israel, territory still controlled by Hezbollah.

Dujarric said Lebanese authorities report that an average of 250 people have been killed every week in November, bringing the death toll to more than 3,700 since October 2023.