Egyptian foreign minister due in Türkiye on Tuesday

ANKARA / ISTANBUL

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty will pay a visit to Türkiye on Tuesday, diplomatic sources said.

During his visit, Abdelatty will meet with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in the capital Ankara, and they are set to discuss all aspects of bilateral ties.

They are also expected to discuss planning for a Türkiye-Egypt High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting expected next year and to discuss plans for the coming days.

Consultations will be held on regional issues such as Gaza and Syria, Libya, the Horn of Africa, and the Sahel region.

Fidan and Abdelatty will underline the will to take bilateral relations to a higher level in 2025, which will mark the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

They will also stress the importance given to promoting investments as part of the $15 billion trade volume goal between the two countries, and highlight support for the reconstruction of Gaza and its governance by the Palestinians as well as for joint efforts for a two-state solution.

Fidan will emphasize that close cooperation and solidarity with Egypt for delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza will be strongly maintained.

During the meeting, the significance of Syria achieving a stable and prosperous structure and the importance of engagement with the country's new administration will also be underscored.

Fidan and Abdelatty will also discuss joint efforts to clear Syria of terrorism and the fight against the PKK/YPG and ISIS (Daesh) terror groups, and the joint steps that Ankara and Cairo can take in ensuring regional stability and prosperity.

In its 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, infants, and the elderly. The YPG is its Syrian offshoot.

Since the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, the terrorist group has attempted to exploit regional instability to create a "terror corridor" along the border with Türkiye.

Fidan paid a visit to Cairo last December for a meeting of the D-8 foreign ministers, and spoke with Abdelatty on the sidelines.

Fidan and Abdelatty, who frequently meet on the occasion of bilateral and multilateral meetings, last met on Jan. 12 on the margins of a meeting on Syria in the Saudi capital Riyadh.