CAIRO — In light of the recent attempts at rapprochement between Cairo and Ankara, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry listed some conditions for restoring normal relations between the two countries during an interview with TeN TV on May 18. “These items are requirements that Egypt has always put forward, which are taking into account the nature of international relations based on respecting privacy, not interfering in internal affairs and not sponsoring any extremists opposing the state,” he said.

Shoukry added, “There are signs of Turkey's desire to change its approach toward Egypt, and these signs have raised the level of communication to the political level leading exploratory consultations. [These consultations] came as an attempt to put forward Egypt's expectations to manage this relationship [with Turkey] in the coming period, as well as [manage] its policy to achieve stability in the region.”

Shoukry further noted, “What we expect is for Turkey to modify the course of [its] politics so that it does not intersect with Egyptian interests, especially when it comes to Egyptian national security, and this falls within the framework of taking practical steps that can be monitored and evaluated. There will be other exploratory rounds that will lead to normalization once we are assured that the Egyptian interests are fully taken into account.”

On May 6, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the conclusion of exploratory talks between the Egyptian and Turkish delegations headed by Egyptian Deputy Foreign Minister Hamdi Sanad Loza and Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal. The two-day talks in Cairo dealt with bilateral and regional issues, especially the situation in Libya, Syria and Iraq. The delegations also discussed the need to achieve peace and security in the Eastern Mediterranean region, which the two countries described as necessary steps that may lead to the normalization of relations at the bilateral level and in the regional context.