The normalization of ties between Turkey and Egypt is vital for the Eastern Mediterranean, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Thursday.
"Relations with Egypt must be improved. The two countries’ ties are significant for many regions. Reciprocal reappointment of ambassadors is possible," Çavuşoğlu said, speaking on NTV.
"A process has started. Two rounds of meetings have been held at the level of deputy ministers. Now the third round is possible. We may meet with Foreign Minister Shoukry and others," he added, saying that there are possible proposals for the near future but no date set.
Çavuşoğlu said there is a will on both sides to normalize ties. "Our efforts will continue in this regard."
Turkey has engaged in an effort to mend its frayed ties with regional powers, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reiterated that Turkey hopes to maximize its cooperation with Egypt and Gulf nations "on a win-win basis," at a time when Ankara intensified diplomacy to mend its fraught ties with Cairo and some Gulf Arab nations after years of tensions.
Egypt and Turkey have not shared ambassadors since 2013, when relations worsened following the ousting of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi by military chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, now the country’s president.
Turkey-Egypt ties have continued at the level of charge d'affairs since 2013. During this period, brief meetings were held between the foreign ministers of the two countries on various occasions.
Recently, however, signs of a possible reconciliation have come from both countries, particularly due to the changing dynamics in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Turkey-Greece crisis over the region’s energy resources.
EastMed cooperation
Çavuşoğlu also said a visit to Israel and Palestine is planned for the third week of May.
Speaking on the normalization steps and possible cooperation on energy, Çavuşoğlu said: "We have been defending fair sharing and cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean since the beginning. Countries that did not approach this cooperation turned to various polarizations, initiatives that excluded Turkey, and blocs were formed. But we have since seen that none of these were practical."
He reiterated that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan proposed an Eastern Mediterranean conference to the European Union and said that this proposal has gained importance.
"Everyone saw that the EastMed is not a feasible project. As the war continues, everybody wants to diversify its energy resources," he said, adding that Turkey is also seeking such steps.
"We see that Israel has rich reserves. In order for these to reach the International and European market the most economic itinerary is through Turkey."
Greece, the Greek Cypriot administration and Israel have approved an agreement for the EastMed pipeline, which has been in the planning stage for several years. The countries had aimed to reach a final investment decision this year and have the 6 billion euro ($6.82 billion) scheme completed by 2025 to help Europe diversify its energy resources. In January, however, the United States voiced its concerns over the planned subsea pipeline to provide natural gas from the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe.
Turkey’s view is that any project that aims to sideline the rights of Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in the Eastern Mediterranean will be unsuccessful.
Turkey, which has the longest continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, has rejected maritime boundary claims made by EU members Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, stressing that these excessive claims violate the sovereign rights of both Turkey and the Turkish Cyprus. Both sides cite a range of decadeslong treaties and international agreements to support their conflicting territorial claims.
On ties with Armenia, Çavuşoğlu said that concrete steps will be taken along with confidence-building measures.
"Our special representatives are in contact. The third meeting will again be in Vienna."
Speaking on the meetings being held in a third country, Çavuşoğlu said that there is no reason why they are not held in Turkey or Armenia and urged Yerevan to take more "bold steps."
"You (Armenia) might be under pressure. This is not an easy process. We see that part of the diaspora is not supporting this normalization, especially the diaspora in France and the United States. Is there still a need to meet a third country? From one side you say relations should normalize, borders should be opened, on the other side you do not dare to meet in Turkey or Armenia," Çavuşoğlu pointed out.
"If you can’t come to Turkey to meet, how will we take steps on other issues?" he asked, saying that Turkey had proposed meeting in Yerevan but Armenia insisted on a third country.
He also mentioned that Turkey supports the normalization between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian recently met in Brussels for rare talks mediated by European Council President Charles Michel. During the meeting, the two leaders ordered their foreign ministers to begin preparatory work for peace talks between the countries.
The peace process aims to overcome a decadeslong conflict that has left thousands dead and erupted into an all-out war in 2020.
The two countries had been locked in a territorial dispute since the 1990s over Azerbaijan's region of Karabakh, previously referred to as Nagorno-Karabakh.
The mountainous region was at the center of a six-week war in 2020 that claimed more than 6,500 lives before it ended with a Russian-brokered cease-fire agreement.
The pact saw Azerbaijan regain swathes of its previously Armenian-occupied territories in what was seen in Armenia as a national humiliation, sparking weeks of mass anti-government protests that continued during last week’s peace talks between Aliyev and Pashinian.