Turkey Announces Diplomatic Contact With Egypt, Egypt Denies It

Turkey announced on Friday that it had its first diplomatic contacts with Egypt since the countries broke off relations in 2013, but Egypt later denied the reports.

The countries broke off relations after by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted in a military coup Mohamed Morsi, who was backed by the Turkish government.

Turkey announced earlier this month that it was prepared to negotiate a new maritime agreement for the eastern Mediterranean.

“We have had contacts both at the level of intelligence and foreign ministries with Egypt. Diplomatic-level contacts have started,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, according to the Anadolu state news agency.

But an unnamed Egyptian official told several media outlets that “There is no such thing of ‘resuming diplomatic contacts.’” The countries maintain diplomatic contacts at the level of charge d’affaires, the official said.