Cairo talks raise hope of ties normalisation between Egypt, Turkey

Cairo: A two-day "exploratory round of consultations" talk held in Cairo has given new hope of normalising ties between Egypt and Turkey after eight years of the rift.

According to the reports, both countries have agreed to engage in further talks after evaluating the outcome of the recently held talks.

"The two sides will evaluate the outcome of this round of consultations and agree on the next steps," Xinhua news agency quoted a joint statement issued after the talks were concluded on Thursday, as saying.

The two-day talks started on Wednesday with a meeting between Egyptian and Turkish delegations co-chaired by Egyptian Deputy Foreign Minister Hamdi Sanad Loza and his Turkish counterpart Sadat Onal.

Tension rose between Egypt and Turkey following the ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to the mass protests against his controversial rule and his currently-blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood group.

Morsi and the Brotherhood were backed by Ankara.

Cairo and Ankara also have conflicting positions over the conflict in Libya and the maritime borders in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

"The discussions were frank and in-depth. They addressed bilateral issues as well as a number of regional issues, in particular the situation in Libya, Syria, Iraq, and the need to achieve peace and security in the Eastern Mediterranean region," said the joint statement.