Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan shook hands in Qatar and described it as a new start in bilateral relations, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement on Monday, after years of tension. The two leaders were in Qatar for the start of the World Cup soccer tournament.
The Turkish presidency released, on Sunday, a photo of Erdogan and el-Sisi sharing an enthusiastic handshake in front of Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in Doha, with which Cairo has also recently mended relations.
The leaders met on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the football World Cup in Qatar.
On Sunday, Erdogan described his meeting with el-Sisi as the first step to launch a new path in relations.
“We said that a process can begin,” Erdogan said. “A step has been taken here to start such a process, and we had the talks. It is my hope that we want to move the process that started with our ministers to a good point later, hopefully to the high-level meetings.”
The unity of the Turkish nation and the Egyptian people in the past is very important to Turkey, Erdogan said, adding: “Why not again? Why not start again? We gave a signal.”
From his side, the Egyptian president hailed what he calls "a new beginning in ties with Turkey", after shaking hands with his Turkish counterpart for the first time.
Presidents Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Recep Tayyip Erdogan "confirmed the depth of historical ties between the two countries during their brief encounter in Doha", spokesman Bassam Radi said in a statement on Monday, signalling Egypt is ready to bridge their nine-year rift.
Relations between Cairo and Ankara turned frosty in 2013 after el-Sisi deposed President Mohamed Morsi and outlawed his Muslim Brotherhood party.
Turkey has for years served as a refuge for opposition activists from Egypt, further stoking tensions between the two countries.
