CAIRO: Egypt and Turkiye said on Tuesday they had appointed ambassadors for the first time in a decade, in the latest sign of warming ties.
Cairo and Ankara both issued statements announcing “the upgrading of diplomatic relations between them to the level of ambassadors.”
Egypt named Amr Elhamamy as its new ambassador in Ankara, while Turkiye named Salih Mutlu Sen as its ambassador in Cairo.
The two foreign ministries said the move “aims at the re-normalization of relations between the two countries and reflects the mutual will to develop bilateral relations.”
The appointments mark a rapprochement between Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry issued a statement on Tuesday welcoming the move.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s welcoming of the raising the level of diplomatic relations between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Republic of Turkey, to the level of ambassadors,” it said.
Relations between the two countries became strained in 2013 with the overthrow of Egypt’s late President Mohamed Morsi, who was supported by Erdogan’s administration.
Ties were further strained as a result of the turmoil in Libya, which borders Egypt to the west.
A dispute also arose in 2019 when Turkiye and the Libyan Government of National Accord signed a pact in November on sovereignty over maritime areas in the Mediterranean.
The first signs of a thaw came in May 2021 when a Turkish delegation visited Egypt to discuss possible normalization.
In November 2022, Erdogan met El-Sisi for the first time at the inauguration of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
In what has been described as a historic moment, the two presidents shook hands, alongside Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
The two leaders then spoke by telephone after a devastating earthquake hit Turkiye and Syria in February. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry visited Syria and Turkiye to convey a message of solidarity from Cairo.
In May this year, El-Sisi called Erdogan to congratulate him on winning the presidential election.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that this step “aims to establish normal relations between the two countries once again and demonstrates their mutual determination to work toward enhancing their bilateral relations for the best interest of both the Turkish and Egyptian peoples.”
In June, Shoukry called his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan to congratulate him on taking up the position.
In 2022, Turkiye was the largest importer of Egyptian goods, totaling $4 billion.
