UPDATE – Sisi-Erdogan meeting start to develop bilateral ties: Egypt

UPDATES WITH DETAILS

ISTANBUL (AA) – Egypt said Monday that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed that their meeting in Doha will be the start to develop bilateral relations between Cairo and Ankara.

The two leaders met on Sunday in the Qatari capital on the sidelines of the opening of the World Cup.

A presidential spokesman said that the shake-hand between the two leaders reflects the depth of relations between the two countries.

“It was agreed that this would be the beginning of the development of bilateral relations,” he added.

On Sunday, the Turkish president termed his meeting with his Egyptian counterpart in Qatar as the first step to launch a new path in ties between the two countries.

"We said that a process can begin. 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," Erdogan said.

The unity of the Turkish nation and the Egyptian people in the past is very important to Türkiye, Erdogan said, adding: "Why not again, why not start again? We gave a signal."

He added Türkiye expects Egypt to establish peace together against those who take a stand against them in the Mediterranean.

Diplomatic relations between Türkiye and Egypt are maintained at the level of charges d’affaires on both sides since Egypt's 2013 military coup which overthrew late President Mohammed Morsi.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report.