Egypt-Turkey ties could be mended soon as a Turkish diplomatic mission is scheduled to visit Egypt next week as Ankara pushes to reestablish ties with Cairo after nearly a decade of animosity, Turkish presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin told Reuters. The planned visit comes as the two countries’ intelligence chiefs and foreign ministers have been in touch in Ankara’s efforts to turn over a new leaf with Egypt, Kalin said. Normalizing relations with Egypt would also serve a regional benefit, including “the security situation in Libya because we fully understand that Egypt has a long border with Libya and that may sometimes pose a security threat for Egypt,” he said.

Background: Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu declared earlier this month “a new era with Egypt” and suggested that officials from both sides would meet to discuss reinstating diplomatic missions and look for a way to turn the page on years of strained ties between the two countries. Turkey last month instructed the media to tone down criticism of Egypt, while Çavuşoğlu has also suggested signing a maritime pact with Egypt. In Turkey’s latest bid to patch things up, Ankara proposed last week the establishment of a “parliamentary friendship group” that would bring together MPs from both countries who want to boost ties between their parliaments. This came despite Egypt’s previous statement that it would not hold bilateral talks unless Ankara meets several conditions, including handing over some Ikhwan figures and barring members who fled to Turkey from naturalizing.