Erdogan Says Turkish, Egyptian Ministers to Meet in Process of Building Ties

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a press conference after a meeting with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 23 November 2022. (EPA)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a press conference after a meeting with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 23 November 2022. (EPA)
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Erdogan Says Turkish, Egyptian Ministers to Meet in Process of Building Ties

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a press conference after a meeting with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 23 November 2022. (EPA)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a press conference after a meeting with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 23 November 2022. (EPA)

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said in comments broadcast on Sunday that a process of building relations with Egypt will start with ministers of the two countries meeting and that the talks would develop from there.

After years of tension between the two countries, Erdogan shook hands with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Qatar last week in what was described in an Egyptian presidency statement as a new start in bilateral relations between them.

In a televised discussion program recorded in Türkiye’s Konya province on Saturday, Erdogan said that he and Sisi had spoken for around half an hour to 45 minutes at that meeting on the sidelines of the World Cup in Qatar.

"We had narrowly focused talks with Mr. Sisi there and said now let's have ministers coming and going at a low level. After that, let's broaden and widen these talks," Erdogan said, also signaling the possibility of improving ties with rival Syria.

"Just as this business is now on track with Egypt, things may also get on track with Syria," he said.



Trump’s Middle East Envoy Says Progress Being Made on Israeli Hostages in Gaza

Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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Trump’s Middle East Envoy Says Progress Being Made on Israeli Hostages in Gaza

Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)

President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said on Tuesday he hopes to have good things to report about Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza by the time Trump is sworn in as president on Jan. 20.

Witkoff, at a press conference held by Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, said: "I'm really hopeful that by the inaugural we'll have some good things to announce on behalf of the President."

Republican Trump said of the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas in the Oct. 7 2024 attack on Israel: "If the hostages are not back by the time I'm in office, all hell will break out in the Middle East, and it will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone."