Egyptian, Turkish officials meet in bid to reset frayed ties

CAIRO — Egyptian and Turkish officials are meeting for talks aiming to reset ties between the two regional powers after years of enmity.

The two-day “political consultations” between the two nations starting in Cairo are chaired by Hamdi Loza, Egypt’s deputy foreign minister, and his Turkish counterpart Sedat Onal. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry announced the meetings in a statement.

It describes the talks as “exploratory discussions” that will focus on “the necessary steps that may lead towards the normalization of relations between the two countries, bilaterally and in the regional context.”

The statement doesn’t elaborate.

Egypt and Turkey have been at loggerheads since the Egyptian military’s 2013 ouster of president from the Muslim Brotherhood group who enjoyed the support of Turkey. Egypt has designated such Islamist group as terrorists.

Recently, top Turkish officials signaled a warming of ties with Egypt, a shift from their previous, sharply critical approach to the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on March 12 that the two countries have held “intelligence, diplomatic and economic” contacts, adding that he hoped for “strong” ties between the two nations.

A week after Erdogan’s remarks, his government asked three Istanbul-based Egyptian TV channels, linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, to soften their critical political coverage of the Egyptian government. The TV channels immediately stopped broadcasting some political programs.

Egypt welcomed the move, calling it a “good initiative from the Turkish side that establishes a favorable atmosphere to discuss issues of dispute between the two nations.”