A Turkish delegation led by the country’s deputy foreign minister, Sedat Önal, on Monday traveled to the Egyptian capital of Cairo to repair ties with the country after years-long animosity.
Turkey announced in March that it had resumed diplomatic contacts with Egypt and wanted to further cooperation, eight years after ties crumbled over the Egyptian army toppling a Muslim Brotherhood president close to Ankara in 2013.
“Egypt invited a delegation from Turkey. The delegation will go in early May,” Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said last month. “We will discuss how to normalize relations.”
Turkey and Egypt froze ties after the 2013 overthrow of ex-Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, who forged close ties with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
That year, the countries declared each other’s ambassadors persona non grata and expelled them.
In the meantime, Trade Minister Mehmet Muş announced on Monday at a meeting that Turkey’s commercial and economic ties with Egypt will strengthen in the near future in line with the developing diplomatic relations.