Turkey and Egypt have appointed ambassadors to restore the diplomatic relations between the two countries at the highest diplomatic level.
In a joint statement released by the Turkish foreign ministry on Tuesday, Cairo and Ankara said Turkey nominated Salih Mutlu Sen as its ambassador to Cairo and Egypt in turn nominated Amr Elhamamy as its ambassador to Ankara.
“The elevation of the level of diplomatic relations between the two countries was implemented in accordance with the decision taken by the presidents of the two countries,” the statement said.
“This step aims at the renormalisation of relations between the two countries and reflects the mutual will to improve bilateral relations in the interests of the Turkish and Egyptian peoples.”
The two regional rivals, who have faced off on multiple regional fronts with their leaders verbally attacking each other publicly, entered a rapprochement process in 2020s.
The regional rivals have held talks at the ministerial level multiple times in 2023, also sending each other friendly messages and openly negotiating on re-establishing full diplomatic relations.
Senior foreign ministry officials from the two sides have held talks since 2021 as Ankara launched a foreign policy initiative to repair relations with other regional powers, such as the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Saudi Arabia in addition to Egypt.
Rapprochement efforts between Turkey and Egypt took a key turn after Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan shook hands at the World Cup in Qatar in late 2022.
Source: Al Jazeera
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