Egypt, Turkey to hold talks to mend ties

Egypt and Turkey are to hold talks on Wednesday to resolve long-running tensions between the two rival countries.

The talks to be held over two consecutive days in Cairo will be co-headed by the deputy foreign ministers of the two countries, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said late Tuesday.

"The exploratory discussion will focus on the necessary steps that may lead to normalization of relations between the two countries at the bilateral and regional levels," the ministry added in a terse statement.

Relations soured between the two countries in mid-2013 after incumbent Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, the chief of the army at the time, toppled Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's democratically elected but divisive Islamist president.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had backed Morsi, a senior official in the Muslim Brotherhood, which is now outlawed in Egypt.

Egypt and Turkey have also supported opposing sides in conflict-torn Libya.