Turkiye FM: Turkiye-Egypt to restore full diplomatic relations ‘in coming months’

Turkiye and Egypt may restore full diplomatic ties and re-appoint ambassadors mutually “in coming months,” Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said on Monday as reported by Reuters.

The agency quoted the Turkish chief diplomat as saying that Ankara and Cairo may re-start diplomatic consultations led by deputy foreign ministers as part of a normalisation process “soon”.

After years of tension, Turkish President, Tayyip Erdogan shook hands with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, at the World Cup opening ceremony in Qatar this month, which opened the door to a flurry of back-door diplomacy between intelligence officials, two sources told Reuters.

Intelligence delegations from the two sides met in Egypt at the weekend, said a regional source with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

READ: Turkiye reconciliation with Egypt could lead to reconciliation with Syria, Erdogan says

The second source, a senior Turkish official, said “significant” discussions had begun between them, and Turkiye and Egypt are set to begin talks on military, political and commercial issues, including energy projects.

Separately, an Egyptian intelligence source said delegations in Cairo had discussed how to bring their points of view on common security issues closer. Those issues included Turkiye-based media outlets associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and opposed to Egypt’s government, the source said.

Diplomatic ties have been strained since Sisi, then Egypt’s Army Chief, led the 2013 ouster of Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, who was strongly supported by Erdogan.