They are conducting ‘frank’ official interviews in Egypt and Turkey, first since 2013 Abdel Fattah el-Sisi News

Egypt and Turkey are holding talks on bilateral and regional issues in an effort to rebuild broken relations.

Egypt and Turkey have had “frank” discussions in the first official diplomatic talks between the region’s rivals for eight years, a joint statement said.

“The discussions were frank and in-depth,” Cairo and Ankara said in a statement released on Thursday.

“They addressed bilateral issues and various regional issues, especially the situation in Libya, Syria, Iraq and the need for peace and security in the Eastern Mediterranean region,” he added.

A Turkish delegation, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal, to know on Wednesday and Thursday in Cairo with an Egyptian team led by its member Hamdi Loza.

Ankara and Cairo have both come under pressure from the United States since they left an ally of former President Donald Trump, and both have been spreading olive branches to their neighbors.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been fighting since the army ousted President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, personally backed by Erdogan.

Erdogan said on March 12 that the two countries had “intelligent, diplomatic and economic” relations, adding that he expected “strong” ties between the two nations.

One week after Erdogan’s remarks, his government called on three Egyptian television stations in Istanbul to link up with the Muslim Brotherhood. smooth Critical political coverage of the Egyptian government. Television channels immediately stopped broadcasting some political programs.

Egypt welcomed “a good initiative that establishes an atmosphere conducive to discussing conflicts between the two countries” on the part of Turkey.

The two countries have been on the other side of the conflict, in an oil-rich Libya that fell into chaos after the 2011 NATO-backed uprising overthrew Muammar Gaddafi.

According to two Egyptian intelligence sources, Turkey is ready to hold a three-way meeting between Turkish, Egyptian and Libyan officials to agree on issues discussed in Libya, including the presence of foreign fighters.

Turkey on Thursday said it agrees that all foreign mercenaries in Libya should leave the country, but Ankara has a bilateral agreement with the Libyan government to keep its troops there.

The Turkish delegation also told Egyptians that Ankara could not hand over the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood they wanted in Egypt, adding that most of those leaders have now legalized their residence in Turkey, sources said.

Turkish officials did not comment on the content of the interviews. However, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said Ankara is fully open to improving its ties with all countries in the region, not Egypt.