DUBAI: Turkey is ready to normalize ties with Egypt and Gulf countries, following disputes over Ankara’s support for extremist-rooted governments, business daily Bloomberg reported on Monday.
Turkey had shown support to Qatar during regional disputes, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood after Egyptian former President Mohammed Morsi was overthrown in 2013.
Saudi Arabia blacklisted the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization in May 2014, in a royal decree that outlawed membership of the groups, along with any form of support or sympathy for them expressed “through speech or writing.”
“A new chapter can be opened, a new page can be turned in our relationship with Egypt as well as other Gulf countries to help regional peace and stability,” Spokesman of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Ibrahim Kalin told Bloomberg.
Ankara’s relations with Egypt deteriorated following the election of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as president of the republic in 2013.
“Egypt is an important country in the Arab world, I mean it still remains the brain of the Arab world, the heart of the Arab world. Egypt is struggling with economic issues, with security issues we fully understand,” he said.
He added that talks between both countries can help their bilateral relationship and regional issues. He further said that Ankara is interested in talking to Egypt about maritime issues, Palestinian issue, Libyan crisis as well as other problems.
