Egypt says Turkey requested FM meeting in New York

CAIRO - Anadolu Agency

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu is currently in New York for the UN General Assembly meetings. REUTERS Photo

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has said Turkey has requested a meeting between the two countries’ foreign ministers on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meetings, currently in session in New York.

“Turkey asked for a meeting with the Egyptian side on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session,” ministry spokesman Badr Abdel-Ati told a local television channel late Sept. 23.
Abdel-Ati said the offer had been accepted by Cairo.

“Egypt has agreed to the meeting because there is no animosity toward or problems with the Turkish people,” he added.

The meeting would bring together Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Çavuşoğlu, the spokesman said.

However, a Turkish presidential press advisor denied Egyptian media reports. Erdoğan's position toward the "coup-maker" Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is clear, Lütfullah Göktaş told The Anadolu Agency.

"The reports regarding the meeting of Erdoğan and Al-Sisi are absolutely not true. We had not any request or demand from the Egyptian delegations in New York to have a meeting," he said. "We don't have any kind of plan in that respect."