Egypt formally appoints ambassador to Turkey

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has formally appointed Amr al-Hamami as its new ambassador to Turkey, the Turkish Anadolu news agency reported, following an improvement in relations between the two countries.

Al-Hamami has served as Egypt’s charge d’affaires in Ankara since 2019. Before that, he was a legal advisor to Egypt’s UN mission in New York and served in consular roles in several Egyptian embassies around the world.

Al-Hamami’s appointment was announced after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan named Salih Mutlu Sen as Turkey’s ambassador to Cairo.

Last May, the two countries announced that they would raise their level of diplomatic representation from charge d’affaires level to ambassadorial level.

Relations between Egypt and Turkey soured following the 2013 coup that brought current Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to power.

Erdogan spoke out against the massacre of anti-coup protesters at Rabaa Square in Cairo, later calling Sisi a tyrant, and both Turkey and Egypt recalled their ambassadors from each other’s capital cities.

The two countries also backed opposing sides in the conflict in Libya.

However, relations have improved recently, following a series of regional reconciliation deals.