On Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke on the latest developments in the global and regional area to the state news agencies, Anatolian Agency and TRT. During his interview, he touched upon many issues, including relations with Arab countries, mainly Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE as well as the intra-Afghan peace process. Regarding relations with Arab countries, Cavusoglu stated that there are contacts at the level of intelligence and foreign ministries with Egypt, and diplomatic-level contacts have been restarted. The negotiations between the two countries have been ongoing without preconditions. The relations with Egypt were disrupted in 2013 with the overthrow of the first democratically elected president Mohammed Morsi by a coup d’etat, which Turkey strictly condemned.
About Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Turkish Foreign Minister said there is no reason to mend the fences with the two countries. If these countries take positive steps towards Turkey, they would respond in the same manner, the Minister added. However, Cavusoglu also highlighted that the complete restoration of trust with Egypt will take time.
About the intra-Afghan peace process, the Turkish Foreign Minister announced that a special envoy for Afghanistan to spend efforts for contributing to the peace process will be appointed. Besides, it is stated that Turkey will host a high-level meeting that would be held for putting the agreement into final form, between the Afghan government representatives and the Taliban in the next weeks. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had offered Turkish mediatory in a letter which was sent to the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani last week. In his statement, Cavusoglu reminded that Turkey had been involved in the peace process since the beginning. Turkey is a reliable partner for both parties, Turkey’s hosting of such a meeting had also been asked both by the Taliban and the Afghan government before, Cavusoglu added. Additionally, he emphasized that the prospective meeting will not be a substitute for the one in Qatar, but rather a complement to it. The meeting is planned to be held in Istanbul in April, Cavusoglu added.
