Turkey, Egypt aiming to extend diplomatic thaw at Cairo summit

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that the war in Gaza will top the agenda during a summit with his Egyptian counterpart, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

“We will discuss various issues including economy, trade, tourism, energy and defence with Mr Sisi,” Erdogan said during a televised address ahead of the pair’s meeting in Egypt on Wednesday.

After years of diplomatic hostility, relations between the two countries have warmed recently. However, while broadly welcoming of any detente, analysts were cautious as to how much difference this might make to the continuing war in Gaza.

Following talks between both states’ foreign ministries, the presidents used the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as the stage on which to be photographed shaking hands, before appointing ambassadors in July last year.

Relations had been fractious since former General el-Sisi overthrew Erdogan’s ally, Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi, in a “popular coup” in 2013.

Since then, further to trading barbs, the countries have competed in various regional conflicts, from supporting rival parliaments in Libya’s civil war to taking opposing sides on the blockade of Qatar.

Credit: aljazeera.com

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