Turkey Says It Wants to Improve Economic Ties With Egypt

Turkey wants to improve its economic relations with Egypt as it pushes to repair diplomatic ties between the regional powers, Trade Minister Mehmet Mus said on Monday, ahead of a visit by a Turkish delegation to Cairo this week.
“Parallel to the developing diplomatic
relations with Egypt, we want to strengthen our trade and economic ties in the
coming period,” Mus told an event to announce monthly trade figures in Ankara,
Reuters reported.
Despite
the political frictions, Ankara says Cairo remains its biggest African trade
partner, with the value of trade standing at $4.86 billion last year, only
marginally down from 2012, the year before Turkey’s ally Mohamed Mursi was
toppled.
Mus’s
comments come as Ankara prepares to send a delegation led by deputy foreign
minister Sedat Onal to Cairo this week to discuss normalizing relations between
the two countries which backed opposing sides in the Libyan conflict.
Turkish
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said he would hold further talks with
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, including on potentially appointing
ambassadors, following the Turkish delegation’s visit to Cairo.
In
March Turkey asked Egyptian opposition television channels operating on its
territory to moderate criticism of Cairo. Egypt welcomed the move but has been
publicly cautious about Turkish calls for better ties.