Saudi Arabia 'pushing for reconciliation' between Egypt and Turkey

Turkey's foreign minister says that Saudi Arabia is trying to restore friendly relations between Egypt and Tukey, after three years of strained ties between the two former allies.

"No negative actions have been made towards Egypt, its stability is very important for Turkey," Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday at a press conference in Riyadh.

"Saudi Arabia has put forward a number of suggestions on how to resolve the differences between Cairo and Ankara," he added, as a Turkish delegation wrapped up a three-day visit to the kingdom.

Diplomatic ties between Turkey and Egypt were severed after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the then head of the military, led a coup against former Islamist president Mohammad Morsi in 2013.

Since then, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is closely aligned with Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, has refused to establish diplomatic ties with Sisi.

A Turkish official told The New Arab that regional powers have been trying to make Ankara come to an understanding with Cairo before an Islamic summit being held in Istanbul in April, which Turkey has invited Sisi to attend.

"Erdogan has taken a strong stance against the current Egyptian regime because Turkey suffered for many years from military coups. Erdogan believes that recognising Sisi would legitimise any military leader who seizes power by force," the source said.

	Erdogan has been very vocal in his opposition to Sisi [Getty]

He added that Erdogan has unconditionally said no to Egyptian demands to shut anti-Egyptian regime TV channels based in Turkey.

Following the 2013 military coup, hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood members fled Egypt and went into exile in Turkey.

Mohammad Abd al-Qadir, an Egyptian specialist in Turkish affairs, said it does not look likely the major political differences between the two countries will be settled soon.

"Reconciliation will only happen through mediation from Gulf states, and if the opportunity arises both sides will have to make concessions," the political researcher at the al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies said.

"The Turks will have to accept what happened in Egypt after June 30 and in return Tukey will want to mediate between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian government to hold fair retrials and reach a political settlement," Abd al-Qadir said.

Reconciliation will only happen through mediation from Gulf states, and if the opportunity arises both sides will have to make concessions

He added that in the case that the two countries do not restore friendly relations by April, Egypt could send a low-level representative to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Summit.

If Sisi attends the summit, it will be the first of its kind in three years of strained ties between two countries.

Egypt's former foreign minister Nabil Fahmy has recently said Egypt must have "serious strategic talks" with Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey to end ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

Last week, however, Egypt's foreign ministry spokesperson denied that there was ongoing mediation between Turkey and Egypt to normalise bilateral ties.