Egypt, Turkey FMs tour by helicopter earthquake zone

Ahram Online , Monday 27 Feb 2023

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry took a helicopter tour on Monday of one of the areas that were worst hit by the 6 February earthquake in Turkey.

Mevlut Cavusoglu and Sameh Shoukry
(From L to R) A snap shot of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Egypt s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry during a helicopter tour of one of the areas that were hit by the earthquake in Turkey on Monday 27 February, 2023.

 

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid shared a video clip of both ministers inside the helicopter on his Twitter account.

Shoukry visited Turkey on Monday and was received by his Turkish counterpart at the airport.

He headed afterwards to the Turkish Port of Mersin to receive the sixth shipment of humanitarian relief aid dispatched by Egypt to help people affected by the devastating earthquake.

Egypt has provided aid to Turkey following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit both Turkey and Syria on February 6 causing over 50,000 casualties.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi phoned his Turkish counterpart Erdogan on the day of the tragedy to express condolences and sympathy for the victims of the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey.

On the following day, Egypt sent two military planes carrying emergency medical aid to Turkey.

On Monday, an Egyptian Navy ship carrying aid arrived in the Port of Latakia, Syria, to deliver aid to both Syria and Turkey.

State news agency MENA reported on Friday that another naval ship carrying more relief left Egypt’s Arish port to deliver additional humanitarian relief to the two countries.

At the state level, relations between Egypt and Turkey have been thawing.

In November, El-Sisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan briefly met on the sidelines of the World Cup in Qatar and agreed to strengthen bilateral relations while also affirming their deep historical relations, according to a statement by the Egyptian presidency.

A few days after the meeting, Erdoğan said he told President El-Sisi that he is keen to end the nine-year rupture between Turkey and Egypt and to avoid a problem between the two countries in the Mediterranean.

The Turkish president added that the process of building Egyptian-Turkish relations would start with ministerial-level talks, to be followed by a meeting with President El-Sisi.

Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu said in November that his country may re-appoint an ambassador to Egypt in the upcoming months.

 

Short link: