Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry traveled to Türkiye Monday in a show of solidarity following the devastating earthquake on February 6. This visit marks the first in a decade of strained relations between Ankara and Cairo since the ouster of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, Hurriyet Daily reports.
The visit was warmly welcomed by the Turkish minister, who described it as “extremely important and meaningful.” The two ministers also traveled to Mersin port to receive Egypt’s sixth shipment of relief materials as part of Cairo’s efforts to assist Turkey in dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake.
“Our visit [to Türkiye] is a message of friendship and solidarity,” Shoukry told reporters in a joint press statement with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, in the southern province of Mersin.
“We, as the Egyptian government and the Egyptian people, wholeheartedly believe that Türkiye will overcome this as soon as possible. It is a great disaster,” Shoukry said. “We will continue to do our best to help.”
Relations between Türkiye and Egypt have been strained since 2013 when Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi overthrew Mohamed Morsi in a coup after only a year in office.
Despite years of political estrangement, Türkiye, and Egypt have exchanged positive signals since 2021, aiming to restore their relations. However, diplomatic efforts have been slow, with only two rounds of exploratory talks held so far, in May 2021 in Cairo and in September 2021 in Ankara.
While the talks did not result in significant progress, they are seen as a positive step toward normalizing relations. Türkiye’s Foreign Minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, has expressed his dissatisfaction with the slow pace of the normalization process with Egypt.
