FILE: Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry
CAIRO - 9 January 2020: Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry flew to Algeria on Thursday to convey President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi's message to Algerian President Abdel Madjid Tebboune, two days following Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu's visit to Algeria.
"Shoukry will meet with his Algerian counterpart Sabri Boukadoum to discuss the bilateral relations, ways of promoting cooperation, in addition to Middle East and North Africa crises, particularly the Libyan turmoil," said the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in a statement on Thursday.
On Monday, Head of the Libyan Government of National Accord Fayez al-Sarraj paid a visit to Algeria where he sought support in his conflict againstthe Libyan National Army led by General Khalifa Haftar. Çavuşoğlu’s visit to Algeria also aims at getting support to the Turkish military intervention in Libya, the matter that was rejected by Libya’s neighboring countries.
However, Algeria affirmed, in its meeting with Sarraj, that its stance is mainly based on the principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs in accordance with the Algerian Constitution, State-owned Algeria Press reported Monday evening.
The situation has escalated in the region after Turkish President Recept Tayeb Erdogan and Sarraj signed "unlawful and controversial” Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) on drawing maritime borders in the Mediterranean Sea- one of the largest natural gas resources in the region- and on enhancing military cooperation. The deals provoked anger in Egypt, Cyprus and Greece that voiced their rejection of the deal as it contradicts with the international agreements.
In a joint press conference held in Cairo for the foreign ministers of Egypt, Greece, France and Cyprus, it has been affirmed that the necessity to fully respect the sovereignty of all countries, including their sovereign rights in their water regions in the Mediterranean Sea. In this regard, they strongly condemned the continuous Turkish acts (drillings) in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone and regional waters and called on Turkey to immediately halt illegal exploration activities.
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CAIRO - 5 January 2020: "Turkey's interference in the region creates a fertile environment for extremists and terrorist groups," said the Observatory for Monitoring Takfiri Fatwas and Extremist Ideologies at Dar al-Ifta in a statement on Sunday.
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