Egypt and Turkey reappoint ambassadors to restore diplomatic relations

Ankara and Cairo agreed to nominate envoys back in April after years of tense relations

Amr El Hamamy, left, is to become Egypt's ambassador in Ankara while Turkey named Salih Mutlu Sen, right, to become its top diplomat in Cairo. Photo: Getty Images / Andalou

Egypt and Turkey have restored full diplomatic relations and named ambassadors to each other’s capitals to end a decade fraught with tension between the two regional powerhouses.

Amr El Hamamy is to become Egypt's ambassador in Ankara while Turkey named Salih Mutlu Sen to become its top diplomat in Cairo, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday.

The decision was made by the Egyptian and Turkish Presidents, the ministry said.

“This step aims to establish normal relations between the two countries once again and demonstrates their mutual determination to work towards enhancing their bilateral relations,” it said.

The exchange of ambassadors caps a lengthy process starting in 2021, with the two nations holding a series of low-level meetings to explore normalising relations.

The process was boosted when Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the World Cup in Qatar in November. It was their first encounter since Mr El Sisi took office in 2014.

Egyptian officials familiar with the process told The National the two leaders were planning to meet soon, with the location yet to be decided.

The agreement to reappoint ambassadors was made in April after the Turkish and Egyptian foreign ministers met in Cairo.

At the time, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said the reappointment of ambassadors would “crown” a years-long process to arrange a presidential summit between the two countries, but said there was no specific timeline for when diplomatic ties would be fully restored.

Relations between the two nations became tense in 2013 when Egypt’s military, at the time led by Mr El Sisi, removed the country's president, Mohamed Morsi, a member of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood. Morsi enjoyed the support of Tuurkey.

The two countries withdrew their ambassadors soon after, with accusations from Cairo that Turkey was supporting militant Islamist groups in the region and interfering in domestic affairs of Arab nations.

Trade between the two countries never reflected the tension, growing at a steady pace to stand at nearly $10 billion last year.

The two regional powerhouses have backed rival sides in the conflict in Libya, Egypt's neighbour to the West, which has been torn by more than 10 years of civil strife.

Egypt is also opposed to what it sees as Turkey's meddling in neighbouring Syria and Iraq, and its attempts to muscle in on plans by Cairo and its allies to turn the East Mediterranean, where vast natural gas reserves have been found, into a regional energy hub.

Egyptian officials said Turkey's decision to significantly reduce its support for Muslim Brotherhood members living in the country in exile was instrumental in Cairo's decision to move ahead with the normalisation.

Ankara's first step was to shut down Turkish-based television channels run by the Brotherhood and which launched daily attacks on Mr El Sisi and his policies. It has also asked several Brotherhood leaders to leave the country.

Plans are under way, according to the officials, for Turkey to extradite Brotherhood members convicted in absentia in Egypt on terror charges, or on its wanted list.

These include mid-level Brotherhood leaders and members of Hasm, a violent offshoot that emerged after Mr Morsi's removal and is blamed for a series of attacks on army and police officers, said the officials.

The Egyptian-Turkish rapprochement is part of a larger recalibration of the political landscape in the Middle East, including the restoration of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, as well as Egypt's own normalisation of relations with Tehran.