Updated on
Summary
Turkey's President Abdullah Gul met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Wednesday. Suleiman Awad, a spokesman for the Egyptian President said after the meeting that both Turkey and Israel are working to repair a recent rupture in their relations after Israel's deadly raid on a Turkish backed aid flotilla to Gaza on May 31. Mubarak's spokesman said that Gul and Mubarak discussed bilateral relations, including a planned boost in trade, as well regional issues such as Iran, Lebanon and the Kurdish situation in Iraq. The killing by Israeli commandos of 9 Turkish activists aboard the aid ship Mavi Marmara as it was attempting to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza set off a downward spiral in Turkish-Israeli relations that has yet to be resolved. But Egyptian spokesperson Suleiman Awad said that neither country had an interest in the diplomatic crisis continuing. The Libyan backed aid ship 'Hope' docked at the Egyptian Mediterranean port of al-Arish last week rather than risk an open confrontation with the Israeli navy after it too tried to run the Israeli blockade of Gaza. After a period of convalescence following what was said by his German doctors to be gallbladder surgery Mubarak has kept up a brisk schedule, meeting numerous foreign officials and attending official functions, such as a military parade he observed with Gul prior to their meeting at the Egyptian Presidential Palace.
