Turkey eyes better ties with Egypt, Syria in future; says PM

Turkey, which patched up strained ties with Israel and Russia, is seeking to normalise relations with Egypt and even rebuild ties in future with Syria, where it has launched a cross-border offensive, the prime minister stated Friday.

“God willing, there will be normalisation with Egypt and Syria,” Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told a televised briefing with ministers. “Turkey has started a serious attempt to normalise ties with Egypt and Syria.”

He did not give a timeline for restoring ties with either of the Arab nations. Any improvement would mark a further shift in its regional foreign policy that has shown of signs of increasing pragmatism, analysts say.

Turkey has long called for President Bashar al-Assad to quit as part of a political solution in its conflict-torn neighbour, but has recently been less vocal about the need for him to leave immediately, concerned more by the prospect of Syria’s division and the potential creation of a Kurdish enclave on its border.

Ties with Egypt have been strained since the Egyptian army, under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, ousted the elected Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Mursi following mass protests. Turkey built close ties with Egypt’s first Islamist president.

Turkey’s decision to rebuild Israeli ties, strained over the Palestinian issue, and Russian relations, broken over Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian warplane over Syria, signalled a more pragmatic approach in Turkish foreign policy, analysts say.

Source: Reuters