Turkish foreign minister holds meeting with Egyptian envoy to Ankara

ANKARA - Hürriyet

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu held a meeting with the Egyptian Ambassador Abdurrahman Salahaddin in Ankara July 19 over the tensions between both countries that peaked after Turkey adopted a critical stance vis-à-vis the military takeover in Egypt. 

The meeting was held following the ambassador’s request, daily Hürriyet reported. 

Despite publicly calling for the release of the ousted President Mohamed Morsi, who has been incommunicado since the takeover on July 3, Ankara insisted that the communication lines were not closed.

Salahaddin, who was appointed as envoy before the takeover, had also previously met President Abdullah Gül. However, he did not participate in the ambassadors’ iftar dinner hosted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on July 18 during which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan slammed once again the interim rule in Egypt.