Egypt’ Foreign Ministry issues statement on its relations with Turkey

CAIRO - 12 March 2020: In response to Turkish officials’ recent statements regarding resumption and restoring the diplomatic ties with Egypt and Gulf States, an Egyptian official from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that “there is no such thing of 'resuming diplomatic contacts.”

 

The Egyptian official added that the diplomatic ties between the two countries exist at the level of the charge d'affaires in accordance with the diplomatic norms.

 

“Upgrading the level of the relationship between the two countries requires taking into consideration the legal and diplomatic frameworks that govern relations between countries on the basis of respecting the principle of sovereignty and the requirements of Arab national security,” he continued.

 

“Egypt expects that any country that needs to establish normal relations with it [Egypt] should abide by the rules of international law and the principles of good neighbor policy and stop attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of the countries of the region,” the official said.

 

The official also affirmed that Egyptian and Turkish peoples have strong bonds and ties.

 

Egypt’s response came after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that Turkey, Egypt started holding first diplomatic contact after being suspended since 2013, as it was reported by Anadolu News Agency on Friday. 

 

“We have had contacts both at the level of intelligence and foreign ministries with Egypt. Diplomatic-level contacts have started,” Çavuşoğlu was quoted as saying.

 

After being internationally isolated due to his foreign policy, Turkey started courting Cairo. Spokesman of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Ibrahim Kalin told Bloomberg that his country is ready to normalize ties with Egypt and some Gulf States.

 

Turkish-Egyptian ties have strained since 2013 when Erdogan criticized the Jaune 30 Revolution that thwarted the ruling of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group. Also, Turkey’s relations with some Gulf countries strained due to its support to terrorists and interference into other neighboring countries’ affairs like Libya and Syria.