Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry held talks, on Saturday, with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Al-Miqdad, who arrived in Cairo in the morning on a visit, the first by a Syrian official at this level in more than ten years.
The official spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Ahmed Abu Zeid, said that the two ministers’ talks “dealt with various aspects of bilateral relations and ways to advance and enhance them (…) in addition to a number of regional and international files of common concern.”
The Foreign Ministry spokesman affirmed that “in light of the fraternal ties and historical ties between the two countries, and what the common Arab interest requires in terms of solidarity and fraternal solidarity in facing the growing regional and international challenges, the discussions dealt with ways to help the Syrian people restore their unity and sovereignty over all of their lands.” As well as “efforts to achieve a comprehensive political settlement of the Syrian crisis.”
Minister Shoukry reaffirmed, according to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman, “Egypt’s support for the efforts of the UN Special Envoy to Syria.”
The spokesman stated that the two ministers agreed to “intensify channels of communication between the two countries at various levels during the next stage.”
On February 27, Shoukry paid a visit to Syria, the first in a decade, days after the earthquake that killed tens of thousands in Turkey and Syria.
This visit was followed by a call made by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Al-Assad, following the earthquake. It was the first between the two men since Al-Sisi assumed power in Egypt in 2014.
Unlike several Arab countries, Egypt kept its embassy open in Damascus throughout the years of the conflict, but it reduced the level of diplomatic representation and the number of its mission.
The Director of the General Intelligence Department in Syria, Major General Ali al-Mamlouk, visited Cairo in 2016, in the first announced visit he had made abroad since the outbreak of the war in his country.
Following the outbreak of the conflict in Syria in 2011, several Arab countries, especially the Gulf countries, severed diplomatic relations with Syria and closed their embassies in Damascus. The League of Arab States also suspended Syria’s membership.
Analysts believe that Assad may find, in the broad solidarity with him following the earthquake, an “opportunity” to accelerate the normalization of his relations with his regional milieu, especially in the wake of the announcement by Iran, which supports Damascus, last month of the agreement to resume relations with Saudi Arabia after a seven-year rupture.
