ANKARA, Turkey — Egypt’s international minister arrived in Turkey on Monday to indicate solidarity with the quake-hit nation, within the first high-level go to from Egypt since relations between Ankara and Cairo began to enhance after years of friction.

Sameh Shoukry traveled to the southern Turkish metropolis of Mersin from Syria — a part of a two-legged journey looking for to convey Egypt’s solidarity with the earthquake-stricken populations.

Diplomatic relations between Ankara and Cairo have been frosty for nearly a decade. Erdogan was an in depth ally of Egypt’s earlier Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, who was ousted by the navy amid widespread protests in 2013.

Turkey in recent times deserted its essential strategy to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s authorities, because it tried to restore the frayed ties. In November, Erdogan and Sissi have been photographed shaking palms through the World Cup in Qatar.

Egypt’s neighbor Libya stays a degree of battle between the 2 governments, with every backing rival administrations that divide the nation’s east and west.

“What’s vital for us is to convey the relationships again to the outdated degree and to take them very far within the pursuits of each nations in accordance with their frequent curiosity,″ Shoukry informed reporters, throughout a joint information convention together with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu.

The 2 stood in entrance of an Egyptian assist ship that docked on the port of Mersin. Cairo has despatched quite a few consignments of assist to Turkey because the earthquake struck on Feb. 6, killing tens of hundreds — principally in Turkey.

“Friendship and brotherhood develop into obvious throughout occasions of difficulties and the Egyptian state and folks have proven that they’re the Turkish individuals’s buddies and brothers throughout these troublesome occasions,” Cavusoglu stated.

The Turkish minister continued: “We’re opening a brand new web page in our relationships. The event of ties between Turkey and Egypt is to each nations’ profit.”

The large earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria has killed some 48,000 individuals in each nations and led to the collapse or critical injury of 173,000 buildings in Turkey.

On Monday, one other earthquake shook southern Turkey, inflicting some already broken buildings to break down and killing at the least one particular person.