Egypt attends Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit in Istanbul

Egypt has attended the third Turkey-Africa Partnership held in Istanbul, the Turkish government news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday, marking an important positive signal as Ankara and Cairo work towards repairing their damaged diplomatic relationship.

Egypt was represented by its Deputy Foreign Finister Hamdi Sanad Loza, who said that participating countries would contribute to regional development, stability and security. Loza also discussed cooperation between Turkey and Egypt in the sectors of trade, investment and tourism.

Egypt and Turkey are two regional heavyweights. They used to be good partners but broke off all diplomatic ties in 2013  following a military coup that overthrew Egypt's first democratically-elected government, led by the Muslim Brotherhood - an Islamist movement close to Ankara.

After eight years of frozen relations, the two countries launched discussions in Cairo in May to renew ties. A second round of talks took place in September in Ankara but embassies were not reopened.

Despite warming relations, tensions persist. In late November, a senior official of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party called on the Egyptian government to take concrete steps in to "establish democracy" in the country. Both countries are also still at odds in Libya, where they support opposing factions in the civil war.