UPDATE - Türkiye's president says ties with Egypt on normalization path, sees similar prospects with Syria

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS

By Aylin Dal

KONYA, Türkiye (AA) - Just as relations between Türkiye and Egypt take shape, ties with Syria can follow the same path in the next period, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

“There is no room for hard feelings in politics,” Erdogan said at an event in the central Konya province.

Referring to his recent meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Qatar, Erdogan said El-Sisi is "very happy" with this meeting and “we also conveyed the same wish.”

Also, he said that "hopefully", the normalization process with Egypt will continue at the ministerial level.

“Recently, we experienced a problem in a 9-year period. We took this step that evening, especially with the intervention of Qatar’s emir. After overcoming that difficulty, we had a narrow-scoped meeting with El-Sisi for half an hour or 45 minutes,” Erdogan said.

Detailing the two leaders' meeting in Qatar, Erdogan said: "Now let our lower-level ministers start the talks, and then let us expand and develop our talks, all we care about is to remove this resentment between you (Egypt) and Türkiye. There should not be such a problem between Türkiye and Egypt in the Mediterranean."

“Now that the process has begun, a process will continue with our ministers. And then to come together in the Mediterranean, because the connections between the Egyptian people and Turkey are very different, we should not lose this power to others,” he said.

Erdogan said there are those who wanted to turn Türkiye's discontent with the Gulf countries into their benefits, adding: “When these issues are eliminated, the plans are collapsed.”

“Our relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are in a very good position. It will be even better," he said, adding: “This is obviously disturbing some circles."

Last week, Erdogan shook hands and chatted with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as the two met in the Qatari capital on the sidelines of the opening of the 2022 World Cup.

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.