Egypt denies reports of mediation efforts with Turkey to ease ‘crisis’

Egypt’s foreign affairs ministry denied on Thursday that there was any kind of meditation in place to improve strained relations between Egypt and Turkey.

In a meeting with diplomatic correspondents in Cairo on Thursday, spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid said that ties with Turkey are “going through a crisis” due to interference by Turkey in Egypt’s internal affairs.

Abu Zeid and there would be no improvement in relations between Cairo and Ankara unless there was a “fundamental change” regarding the latter’s policies and views concerning the situation in Egypt.

Relations between Egypt and Turkey have been tense since the ouster of Egypt’s Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, an ally of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in July 2013.

The Turkish president has repeatedly called for Morsi’s release from detention; Morsi is currently standing trial in four separate cases.

Earlier this month, the Turkish press cited reports of Saudi meditation to restore the relations between Egypt and Turkey.

Egypt has also been invited to attend the 13th summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which will be held in Istanbul in April, according to the Turkish press.

As current OIC president, Egypt will be attending the summit to hand over the presidency to Turkey The conference could witness the first meeting of its kind between Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart.

According to Turkish foreign ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç, Egypt as the current term president of the OIC will be automatically invited to the summit, but the decision regarding the level of its representation at the summit should be taken by Cairo.

source: Ahram online