CAIRO — Egypt and Turkiye announced on Tuesday raising their diplomatic ties to the level of ambassadors.

The elevation of the diplomatic relations between the two countries has been implemented in accordance with the decision taken by the presidents of both countries.

Turkiye nominated Salih Mutlu Sen as its new ambassador to Cairo, while Egypt named Amr Al-Hamamy as ambassador to Ankara, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

This step aims to achieve the normalization of relations between the two countries and reflects the mutual keenness to develop bilateral relations in line with the interests of the Turkish and Egyptian people, the Ministry said.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed on May 29 to upgrade diplomatic relations between the two countries and reinstate ambassadors.

Relations between Cairo and Ankara were severed in 2013. Since 2013, the two regional rivals have faced off on multiple fronts and their leaders have verbally attacked each other publicly, but they entered a rapprochement process in the 2020s.

Senior Foreign Ministry officials from the two countries have held talks since 2021, and rapprochement efforts between Turkiye and Egypt took a turn after El-Sisi and Erdogan shook hands at the World Cup in Qatar in late 2022.

The two sides have held talks at the ministerial level multiple times in 2023, have sent each other friendly messages and have been openly negotiating on re-establishing full diplomatic relations.

Before Ankara started efforts to fix its ties in the region, issues of disagreement between Ankara and Cairo included sharing hydrocarbon resources in the eastern Mediterranean, the conflict in Libya, the war in Syria and a diplomatic crisis in the Gulf.

In another development, Arab League praised Cairo and Ankara’s decision to raise level of diplomatic ties

Arab League Secretary General Ahmad Aboul-Gheit praised the decision of Egypt and Turkiye to upgrade their bilateral relations up to the ambassadors’ level.

Aboul-Gheit said on Tuesday that this decision is considered a positive development that contributes to clearing the atmosphere in the region and boosting diplomatic communications.

He added that the relations between Arab countries and their neighbors should be raised on the basis of international laws and mutual respect. — Agencies