11:13 PM
Saturday, March 18, 2023
Books – Muhammad Abu Al-Majd:
Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid, spokesperson for the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that the visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to Egypt is important, because it is considered an inauguration of the restoration of normal relations between Egypt and Turkey, noting that the consultations between the foreign ministers of the two countries began since 2021, and he called it consultations. exploratory.
Abu Zeid said in a phone call to the “On My Responsibility” program on “Sada Al-Balad” channel today, Saturday, that these consultations were followed by the meeting between President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Doha on the sidelines of the World Cup. This meeting launched the course and directed the two foreign ministers. To meet and consider how to restore normal relations between the two countries, and this was followed by the visit of Ambassador Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to Turkey to provide special aid and condolences for the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey.
He added that it was natural for a lengthy consultation session to be devoted between the foreign ministers of Egypt and Turkey in today’s meeting, to discuss all aspects of relations between the two countries and regional and international issues of interest to the two countries, explaining that the meeting of the foreign ministers of the two countries is considered the culmination of the contacts that took place during the last period.
And the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs added that today’s meeting is the first lengthy session that deals with all dimensions of relations between Egypt and Turkey, through which all issues of concern to the two countries were addressed, whether at the economic and trade level and mutual investments, through regional issues, the situation in Libya, Syria, Iraq and the Palestinian issue.
He pointed out that today’s conference revealed the existence of a real political will between the two countries to restore relations to normal, as the two countries have historical relations at the historical and popular level for each of the two countries, and the convening of the visit is significant at this time, explaining that the dialogue session between the two foreign ministers comes after about 9 or 10 years of lack of dialogue, and the session was characterized by transparency and listening in every way to the starting points and positions of the other.
He stressed that Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry was clear in presenting Egypt’s positions on issues, saying: “It is too early to decide whether there are specific positions at this stage, but it is certain that there is a political will for understanding between the two countries and reaching a common consensus that achieves the interests of both parties.”
He explained that the meeting witnessed discussion on a number of regional issues, such as the Libyan issue and the interest in holding elections in Libya as soon as possible and restoring stability and unity to the Libyan lands and people, and the Palestinian issue on which the positions of the two countries are presented, in addition to interest in the situation in Syria, stressing: “The meeting was just held.” It has great significance, and the visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister to Egypt has great significance.”
He added that the talks touched on the economic side, as trade relations are important between the two countries, because the balance of trade exchange between the two countries reaches $9 billion. Turkish investments in Egypt amount to $2.5 billion, and Turkey’s investments in the Turkish textile and clothing sector are the largest in Egypt. The volume of Egyptian labor in this sector is more than 35,000 Egyptians, and therefore it was important to provide incentives and encourage the Turkish private sector in Egypt, the Egyptian private sector in Turkey, and increase Egyptian exports in Turkey.
He concluded that the talks focused on the tourism sector, as the Turkish Foreign Minister confirmed that the improvement in relations between the two countries gives signals to the two peoples and those interested in the tourism sector and more tourism flows in the two countries, stressing: “There is work currently in effect to hold technical meetings at the level of technical ministries.” In the two countries in the economic and commercial sectors, and arrangements for mutual visits in the next stage, we will see a continuation of the path that started a while ago and continues today with the aim of reaching the desired goal, which is restoring relations to normal, and it is expected that there will be a meeting at the level of leaders between Presidents Sisi and Erdogan at some point in the period coming, and this will have a strong impetus for the relationship between the two countries.
(embed)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRYgQM99ybI(/embed)
