As Egypt celebrates its Liberation Day on Friday, an expert says the country's relations with Turkey were on the path of normalization after more than seven years of estrangement, Eurasia Diary reports citing Anadolu Agency.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ismail Numan Telci, the deputy director at the Ankara-based Center for Middle Eastern Studies (ORSAM), said the recent move by the two countries was aimed at finding a middle ground based on common interests.
Over recently, the two countries have exchanged positive signals on establishing contacts and the possibility of talks to demarcate their maritime borders in the Eastern Mediterranean.
On June 1, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said that Turkey and Egypt have a vast area of cooperation from the Eastern Mediterranean to Libya. He said that Ankara is determined to restore relations with Cairo.
Turkish and Egyptian delegations held two days of political consultations in Cairo from May 5-6, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said.
Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal and his Egyptian counterpart Hamdi Sanad Loza led their respective delegations, said Ahmed Hafez, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman.
Exploratory talks between Turkey and Egypt were "frank and in-depth," according to a joint press release between the two sides.
Telci said that Turkey’s close relations with the legitimate government in Libya may have been a consideration for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's administration to opt for the rapprochement as a stable environment in Libya will have economic benefits for both countries.
In February, an UN-led Libya forum elected Mohammed al-Menfi as head of the presidential council and Abdulhamid Dbeibeh as prime minister.
The expert said the exploratory talks between Ankara and Cairo may stimulate economic relations and offer significant advantages to Egypt and Turkey in mutual trade relations.
“The mobility in bilateral relations may also have important repercussions in the field of tourism as the peoples of the two countries have strong cultural and historical ties”, he said.