Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country is developing ties with Egypt based on mutual interests.
He made the remarks at a parliament session on Saturday marking the new legislative year, Anadolu Agency reported.
“Our relations with the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Israel are developing based on mutual interests, and a similar process is underway with Egypt,” Erdogan noted.
Egypt’s relations with Türkiye have been strained – with no shared ambassadors – since the 2013 ouster of Egypt’s late Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, who was backed by Erdogan’s government.
The rift between the two countries then continued to widen, most notably when Türkiye voiced its opposition to the June 30 Revolution of 2013 and its condemnation of Egypt’s judicial sentences against members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt designated a terrorist organization in 2013.
Egypt has also slammed Türkiye for harboring members and leading figures of the Brotherhood and allowing them to voice their anti-Egyptian government rhetoric on Turkish TV channels.
In March 2021, Turkish authorities ordered Istanbul-based TV channels affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood to stop airing criticism and incitement leveled against Egypt and Gulf states immediately.
In May and September 2021, the two countries held two rounds of exploratory talks at the level of deputy foreign ministers in Cairo and Ankara to discuss restoring relations.
Former Egyptian foreign minister Mohamed Orabi said the pace of bilateral ties has been fixed for some time now, adding that no developments have been achieved since the exploratory talks in 2021.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Orabi pointed out that both countries haven’t resolved any of the outstanding issues, including Türkiye’s role in Libya, Syria and Iraq, as well as the skirmishes in the eastern Mediterranean.
He stressed that Ankara should exert extra effort to prove its keenness to maintain Cairo’s security.
In June 2021, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Türkiye’s shift in its approach is the key to advance normalizing bilateral ties.
He further underscored the importance for Ankara to take into consideration Cairo’s stances regarding its policies that have an impact on Egypt’s interests.
