Egypt's foreign minister met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday in the first visit to Damascus by a top Egyptian diplomat since the civil war began in 2011, in another sign of warming ties between Assad and Arab states that once shunned him.
"When the foreign minister of Egypt comes to Damascus, he comes to his home, his people, and his country," Mekdad said.killed more than 5,900 people in Syria, the bulk of them in the rebel-held northwest. In Turkey, the death toll stands at more than 44,000.
Shoukry did not respond to reporters' questions on whether Egypt would support lifting the Arab League's suspension of Syria.Ties between Syria and Egypt were briefly cut during the Muslim Brotherhood-led government of President Mohamed Mursi. Following the quake, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi spoke with Assad by phone for the first time and on Sunday a delegation of parliamentarians from around the region - including Egypt's parliament speaker - met Assad in Damascus.
Saudi Arabia, which remains at odds with Assad, has said consensus was building in the Arab world that isolating Syria was not working and that dialogue with Damascus was needed at some point to at least address humanitarian issues.Diplomatic relations between Egypt and Turkey were severed after Sisi led the overthrow of Mursi, who had enjoyed support from Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party during his short-lived presidency.
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