Turkish President Abdullah Gul has congratulated Egypt's newly sworn-in President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on the post, state news agency MENA reported. The Egyptian embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara received a message of congratulations from Gul to El-Sisi in which he wished Egypt peace, stability and prosperity. Gul said the centuries-long and historical relations between the two countries will continue at all times. Egypt and Turkey had been at odds since the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi last summer, as Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly criticised Morsi's ouster and condemned the Egyptian authorities' subsequent crackdown on Islamists. On June 3, Egypt's foreign ministry summoned the Turkish charges d'affaires to express outrage over Turkish officials' comments criticising Egypt's presidential election that brought El-Sisi to power. The Turkish charges d'affaires was told that such critical statements ignored electoral procedures which were characterised by integrity and transparency. In November of last year, Egypt asked the Turkish ambassador to leave the country and recalled its envoy from Ankara, downgrading diplomatic ties with Turkey for charge d'affairs to replace ambassadors. Source : Ahram online
