Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Saturday received Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in the presence of Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service (GIS) Abbas Kamel.
The two sides asserted the significance of seeking a permanent solution to the tense situation between Palestinians and Israelis through reaching a just and comprehensive settlement to the Palestinian issue, a matter that would require support of all parties to the two-state solution, ensuring the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people as well as achieving security to peoples in the region.
The meeting took up the latest developments of the bilateral cooperation between the two countries, said Presidential Spokesman Ahmed Fahmy, adding that both sides hailed the positive developments witnessed by Egyptian-Turkish relations which are being improved within a context of exchanged respect and shared interests.
They affirmed the importance of continuing work towards giving impetus to bilateral relations, ensuring transmission to a new phase throughout the upcoming period as well as maintaining shared steps and the tangible advancement towards activating various mechanisms of bilateral cooperation, the spokesman said.
President Sisi and the Turkish foreign minister exchanged views with regard to the accelerated military escalation in the Gaza Strip, the spokesman said, adding that they raised alarm over the volatile situation that jeopardizes the stability and security of the region, a matter that requires intensifying international efforts meant to put an immediate end to the violence and restore order, alongside taking urgent and effective measures aimed at protecting civilians from the risks of death, displacement and destruction.
Meanwhile, both sides voiced deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, asserting the necessity of ensuring safe and immediate sanctuary, the delivery of humanitarian aid alongside avoiding the collective punishment policies of starvation and displacement, said the spokesman.
President Sisi underscored the significance of harmonized international efforts to end the aggravated suffering endured by the Palestinian people in Gaza.
Fidan, for his part, hailed Egypt’s role in coordinating and facilitating the delivery of humanitarian and relief aid from all countries and international organizations concerned to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, according to the spokesman.
He added that: “Both sides have called for pushing towards finding a radical solution and a permanent one to the current tense situation through working on reaching a just and comprehensive settlement to the Palestinian issue.”
