FM Shoukry meets with Ivory's counterpart in Abidjan

CAIRO – 11 July 2017: During their meeting on the sidelines of the 44th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Ivory Coast Minister of Foreign Affairs Marcel Amon Tanoh thanked his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry for supporting his country candidacy for non-permanent membership of the Security Council 2018-2019.

During their meeting Monday July 10, the two foreign ministers discussed several issues of common interest including countering terrorism and developing the countries' relations on all different levels.

According to Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid statements Tuesday, Tanoh told Shoukry that his government is looking forward to arranging a visit for President Alassane Ouattara to Cairo, in order to develop the relations between the two governments.

From his Side, Shoukry thanked his Ivory counterpart for the arrangement of the 44th session of Foreign Ministers Council meetings, adding that developing the cooperation between Cairo and the South African countries is considered a priority to President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

Earlier this week, Shoukry headed to Abidjan, along with Egyptian delegation to attend the 44th session of OIC's Foreign Ministers meeting held on July 10-11. The meeting was announced to discuses several issues including the regional affairs and crises along with countering terrorism.

According to Sources told Al-Watan newspaper on Monday, the Egyptian delegation was intending to highlight Qatari role in supporting terrorism in the region. "Qatar hostility towards Arab countries would negatively affect Arab national security," the sources added.

During his speech to the foreign ministers, Shoukry said that the diplomatic steps taken by his government along with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia against Qatar came as a result of its constant interfering in the state's internal affairs, along with "its stubbornness" regarding backing and funding terrorism.