Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Saturday. During the meeting, the two parties exchanged views on a number of regional and international files, the most prominent of which was the raging crisis taking place in the Gaza Strip and its associated humanitarian repercussions. Shoukry and Erdogan stressed the necessity of reaching an immediate and permanent ceasefire, and allowing humanitarian aid to enter without any obstacles, in addition to reiterating the warning against the consequences of undertaking any military operation in the Palestinian Rafah, as that step would have extremely dangerous consequences, in addition to the importance of continuing continuous coordination and joint work between Cairo and Ankara to prevent the conflict from expanding in the region. The Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs praised the amount of humanitarian aid provided by Turkey to Palestine in cooperation with the relevant authorities from Egypt, stressing the importance of cooperation to achieve Palestinian reconciliation and resume the peace process, leading to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state living in peace in the region on the pre-June 5, 1967 borders with Eastern Jerusalem as its capital. Shoukry explained that this visit comes within the framework of preparation for the visit of Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to Turkey, in response to the Turkish President's invitation to hold the first meeting of the high-level strategic council between the two countries. The meeting also discussed the regional crises in Syria, Sudan and Libya. Earlier on Saturday, Shoukry said during a press conference with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan that the ongoing Israeli attempts to displace the Palestinians from their lands are all matters that must be dealt with with the necessary seriousness. He also stressed the necessity of the start of a political path that led to the establishment of a Palestinian state on the lines of June 4, 1967, with the capital of the Palestinian state being East Jerusalem. He added that the conflict and the episodes of violence and mutual revenge cannot continue without adhering to what has been approved and agreed upon in the decisions of international legitimacy regarding the right of the Palestinian people to establish their state, preserve their legitimate rights, and exit the circle of conflict that causes severe harm to the peoples of the region. "Our focus was also with regard to regional issues, foremost among which is the ongoing war in Gaza and the devastating effects on the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause," Shoukry said about the meeting with Fidan. The Egyptian Foreign Minister expressed his pleasure with the mutual relations between Egypt and Turkey and the joint work to strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation within the scope of common interest in achieving stability and security in the region. He added: "The goal we seek is to advance relations politically, economically, culturally and security-wise in a way that is in the common interest of both countries and that this contributes to achieving more cooperation on the regional scale and has its contribution to greater security and stability."
