Egypt calls on Turkey to stop escalations against Greece and Cyprus
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Egyptian-Turkish consultations were held on Wednesday and Thursday for the first time since 2013 due to Turkey’s unapologetic support for the radical Muslim Brotherhood organisation whose origins lay in Egypt.
The two sides were set to discuss issues in a “new era of normalisation” between Egypt and Turkey, but it appears no significant steps were made.
Following discussions between Egyptian Deputy Foreign Minister Hamdi Loza and Turkish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sedat Önal, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said “the discussions were frank and in-depth.”
As part of these discussions, Al-Arabiyah reported that Cairo called on Ankara to stop escalations against Greece and Cyprus.
Erdoğan: It saddens me to see Egyptians in solidarity with Greeks
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that it “saddens him to see Egyptians in solidarity with Greek people.”
“You know our attitude towards the Egyptian people is very, very positive, that is, there is a historical relationship between the Egyptian people and the Turkish nation,” he said.
“That is why we are in an effort to regain our historical union with the Egyptian people, not as hostile brothers, but as friends,” he continued.
“As I said before, it saddens us to see the Egyptian people forced to side with the Greek people,” Erdoğan said, adding: “It makes us sad to see that Egyptians are in solidarity with Greeks.”
Akar: Greece continues to provoke and escalate tensions against Turkey
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Speaking to army officers in southeastern Turkey, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar, said in reference to the Aegean and East Mediterranean: “To this day, we continue pursuing an extremely sensible and prudent policy without hesitation.”
“We are not in favour of escalating tensions,” he said, adding that Turkey would always state its good intentions.
This was said just days after Turkish Coast Guard vessels violated Greek maritime territory and even crashed in a Greek patrol boat.
“Despite our constructive, positive, peaceful and clear stance on talks, unfortunately the provocative actions of our Greek neighbours continue escalating the tension,” the minister said without providing examples.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiades in their meeting today in Nicosia took a joint position on the Cyprus issue.
Greece and Turkey to begin exploratory talks on January 25
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The 61st first round of exploratory contacts between Greece and Turkey will start on January 25 in Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολη, Turkish: İstanbul), the Greek Foreign Ministry announced.
A few hours ago, the Turkish side contacted Greece and proposed that the 61st round of Exploratory Contacts take place in Istanbul on January 25, 2021.
Athens accepted the invitation.
Earlier today, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavuşoğlu said
“We call on Greece for the first meeting of exploratory contacts in January,” as reported by
However, this was a public statement rather than an official invitation from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, hence the delay in the invitation being accepted.