Turkey to invite Egypt to Islamic summit in Istanbul: FM

Turkey will invite Egypt to an Islamic summit to be held in Istanbul in April, the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced Friday, amid three years of strained bilateral ties after a former Egyptian president was removed.

A spokesman with the ministry said Ankara will receive from Cairo the term presidency of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit.

Though an official invitation has yet to be released, Turkey decides to invite Egypt to the summit scheduled for April 10 to 15, 2016.

If Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi would attend the summit, it would be the first of its kind in three years of strained ties between two countries.

Relations between Turkey and Egypt took a blow when Sisi, then the Egyptian army chief, ousted the Muslim Brotherhood affiliated President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Turkish President Recep Erdogan, who is closely aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, then condemned Egypt for sentencing Morsi to death.

Both countries recalled their ambassadors for consultations in a tit-for-tat policy.

Source: Xinhua

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