Egyptian and Turkish diplomatic officials are holding the first day of political consultations in Cairo on Wednesday on normalising relations, the first such talks in recent years as Ankara seeks to repair its strained ties with Cairo. The meeting is chaired by Egyptian Deputy Foreign Minister Hamdy Loza and his Turkish counterpart Sedat Onal, according to a tweet by Ahmed Hafez, the spokesperson for the Egyptian foreign ministry. The Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement a day prior that the two sides will hold a two-day round of "exploratory political discussions." The discussions "will focus on necessary steps that could lead to a normalisation of ties between the two countries at the bilateral level and within the regional context," the ministry added. Egypt's relations with Turkey have been strained since the 2013 ouster of late Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, who was a close ally of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's government. The talks come a few weeks after Turkey said it will send a delegation led by its deputy foreign minister to Egypt in early May as it attempts to mend ties with Egypt and Gulf Arab states and bridge differences over several crises in the region, including the Libyan crisis.
