Turkey and Egypt held two rounds of talks on Africa and Libya.
Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on its Facebook page that the talks were focused on issues in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region.
These talks were led by the assistant minister of foreign affairs of Egypt for African affairs Ihab Awad and Elif Ulgen who is the director general of East and Southern Africa of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey.
Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the two sides reached an agreement and understanding on ways to maintain security and stability in the Horn of Africa region, allowing for the return of Red Sea vessels.
She added that Turkey and Egypt will strengthen their cooperation to achieve their common goals in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea, while supporting Somalia in its efforts to fight terrorism and build its national army.
Egypt and Turkey have supported the opposing sides in Libya, with Cairo supporting the eastern-based forces of Khalifa Haftar, while Turkey provides strong support to the authorities based in the capital Tripoli.
However, both Turkey and Egypt have extended their support to Somalia, with Ankara signing a historic defense agreement with the Somali government in February in which Turkey will protect and defend the Somali Sea.
Egypt has also signed a military partnership with Somalia, which stipulates that Egyptian troops will be deployed in Somalia to be part of the African peacekeeping forces.
This step taken by Egypt is believed to be aimed at Ethiopia, which has accused Somalia of interfering in its internal affairs after the maritime agreement between Addis Ababa and Somaliland.
