Egypt's Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, expressed his astonishment at Turkey's statements concerning the Friendship Forum that was held in Athens.
In a television interview, Shoukry stated that his country "does not pay attention to Ankara's remarks about the 'Philias' Forum held in Athens," noting that "the goal of the forum is cooperation and the well-being of the peoples, not to confront anyone." He added, "We are surprised by Turkey's reaction regarding the 'Friendship' Forum, but we have not focused on this matter and have not given it significance."
Regarding relations with Qatar, Shoukry affirmed that "Egypt adheres to any document it signs and respects its commitments and fulfills them," indicating that Egypt has restored diplomatic relations with Qatar, lifted the flight ban, and sought to hold meetings between bilateral committees to discuss specific steps to activate the provisions of the "Al-Ula Agreement."
The Egyptian Foreign Minister emphasized that "Egypt is currently assessing the extent of Qatar's commitment to its pledges and monitors daily everything broadcasted by media channels from Qatar for review."
The "Al-Ula Summit," which took place in Saudi Arabia last month, marked the conclusion of the Gulf crisis that entered its fourth year due to political disputes between Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain on one side, and Qatar on the other. The four countries agreed to restore relations with Qatar, including air travel.
In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt announced the severance of relations with Qatar, closed their airspace to Qatari aircraft, prohibited trade transactions with the emirate, and restricted Qatari nationals' entry into their territories.
In another context, the first official meeting between Qatar and Saudi Arabia was held yesterday, following the Gulf reconciliation on January 5 of this year.
The Saudi Press Agency "SPA" reported that "Al-Maliki and Al-Thani reviewed bilateral relations between the two countries and ways to enhance cooperation and coordination on shared issues in the halls of the United Nations."
