Cairo, 28 February (GNP): On his first trip to Syria and Turkey by a top Egyptian official in ten years, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with both Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday.
The intention was to demonstrate Cairo’s support for the two earthquake-stricken countries in an effort to further defrost the relations.
It was the first formal trip made by an Egyptian foreign minister to Syria since the outset of its civil strife in 2011, as well as to Turkey since Cairo and Ankara’s relations soured in 2013.
Syria was expelled from the Arab League, which holds its headquarters in Cairo, in 2011 as a result of the government there using excessive force to quell anti-Assad rallies on the streets possessing the threat of war.
More than 300,000 people have died in the violence and half of the 23 million people living there displaced.
First, Sameh Shoukry flew to Syria, where he met President Bashar Al Assad and his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad, who welcomed him at Damascus airport.
Syrian Foreign minister Dr. Faisal Mikdad receives H. E. Sameh Shoukry Foreign minister of Egypt in Damascus. pic.twitter.com/ki2NuE3iJ9
— Egypt MFA Spokesperson (@MfaEgypt) February 27, 2023
His visit was the most prominent indication that, after more than a decade of exclusion, Syria’s isolation in the Arab world is gradually fading.
After his dialogue with the Syrian President, Shoukry, told reporters that Egypt had supplied 1,500 tones of assistance to earthquake victims and committed to delivering more.
“We will continue to provide whatever humanitarian aid we can”, he said.
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The visit by Shoukry to Turkey also highlights softening of relations between Cairo and Ankara.
https://twitter.com/MfaEgypt/status/1630150965612494848
After Egypt’s military, under the command of El Sisi, ousted Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood from the leadership in 2013, Egypt and Turkey severed bilateral ties.
All through his first year in power, Mr. Morsi had the confidence of the Turkish people.
However, when Shoukry and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu talked to reporters on Monday in front of an Egyptian relief ship berthed at the southern Turkish port of Mersin, all disagreements were absent.
“We, as the Egyptian government and the Egyptian people, wholeheartedly believe that Turkey will overcome this as soon as possible. It is a great disaster”, Shoukry said.
Similar optimistic remarks were made by Cavusoglu, who hailed Shoukry’s visit as crucial and vital.
“We open new pages in our relations with Egypt”, he said.
