By Kwanta Douglas –
In a move aimed at mending ties, Egypt and Turkey are scheduled to begin talks on Wednesday with a view to resolving the long-running tensions between the two rival countries.
According to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the talks to be held over two consecutive days in Cairo, would be co-headed by the deputy foreign ministers of the two countries, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said late on Tuesday.
“The exploratory discussion will focus on the necessary steps that may lead to normalisation of relations between the two countries at the bilateral and regional levels,’’ the ministry said in a statement.
Relations soured between the two countries in mid-2013, after incumbent Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, the chief of the army at the time, toppled Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s democratically elected, but divisive Islamist president.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had backed Morsi, a senior official in the Muslim Brotherhood, which is now outlawed in Egypt.
Egypt and Turkey have also supported opposing sides in conflict-torn Libya.