DAMASCUS(Reuters) – Egypt’s foreign minister met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in the first visits to Syria and Turkey by a top Egyptian diplomat in a decade.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri told reporters in Damascus, “The purpose of the visit is primarily humanitarian and to convey our solidarity with the leadership, the government and the Egyptian people, from the Egyptian people to the Syrian people.”
Shukry also told Egyptian local TV channel Ten that the visit showed the two countries’ willingness to turn the tide. The visit “reflects Egypt’s interest in restoring normal relations between the two countries,” he said.
“When an Egyptian foreign minister comes to Damascus, he comes to his hometown, his people and his country,” Meqdad said.
The earthquake killed more than 5,900 of her people in Syria, most of them living in the rebel-controlled northwest. In Turkey, the death toll has exceeded 44,000.
The Arab League suspended Syria for her deadly government crackdown on protests in 2011, and many US-allied Arab countries supported the opposition to overthrow Assad.
However, many Arab countries, especially the United Arab Emirates, have changed their approach to normalizing relations in recent years after Assad defeated rebel enemies in much of the country with the help of Iran and Russia.
Shoukry did not answer reporters’ questions about whether Egypt would support the Arab League’s lifting of the Syrian ban.
Dialogue with Damascus
Relations between Syria and Egypt were temporarily suspended during the Muslim Brotherhood-led government of President Mohammed Morsi. Egypt reopened its embassy in Syria in 2013 after the military ousted Morsi from power but kept Assad at bay. Shoukry said he met Mekdad as a bystander at the 2021 United Nations General Assembly.
After the earthquake, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi spoke to Assad for the first time by phone, and on Sunday, a delegation of parliamentarians from across the region, including the head of the Egyptian parliament, met Assad in Damascus.
Washington has opposed any move to restore or normalize relations with Assad, citing his administration’s brutality during the conflict and the need to move toward a political settlement.
Saudi Arabia, which is at odds with Assad, says there is a growing consensus in the Arab world that Syria’s isolation is not working, and that dialogue with Damascus is needed at some point, at least to address the humanitarian issue. said. Shoukry also visited Turkey and noted another change in Egypt’s diplomatic relations. He met Kabsoglu in the southern city of Adana, which was also hit by an earthquake.
Turkish and Egyptian ministers then visited the port of Mersin, where an Egyptian relief ship called on Monday.
Diplomatic ties between Egypt and Turkey were severed in 2013 after Sisi led the ouster of Morsi, who was backed by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK party. However, a settlement is underway. President Erdogan and President Sisi shook hands at the 2022 Qatar World Cup. Qatar is another country with which Egypt has re-established ties. A Turkish company pledged her $500 million in new investments in Egypt this month.
