On Thursday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry urged Turkey to withdraw its forces from Syria , in a position confirming that tensions still exist despite efforts to bridge the rift.

The Egyptian Foreign Minister is visiting Ankara for the third round of talks with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu.

The acceleration of diplomatic communication with Turkey, which is mired in an economic crisis and which will witness crucial elections next month, comes within the framework of the efforts exerted to normalize relations with a number of Arab countries that have been at odds with Ankara over the past decade.

Shoukry reaffirmed that Cairo wants to continue improving the relations that were severed following the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, Turkey's ally, in 2013.

However, Shoukry pointed out that there are discrepancies regarding Syria, where Turkey is deploying forces and supporting opposition factions in the war in the country.

And the Egyptian Foreign Minister stressed, during a joint press conference after the talks with Cavusoglu, the necessity of preserving Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the necessity of the withdrawal of foreign forces from Syrian territory.

The Turkish military deployment in northwestern Syria complicates Ankara's efforts to hold a peace summit with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Egypt and Arab governments are accelerating efforts to rapprochement with Damascus, in steps that have angered Washington.

This April, Shoukry received his Syrian counterpart, Faisal al-Miqdad, in Cairo, on a visit that was the first by a Syrian official at this level in more than ten years.

Turkey is seeking to hold a summit meeting between its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Assad, but the latter requires a prior withdrawal of Turkish forces from his country to hold the meeting.

Cavusoglu reaffirmed his country's firm position, which considers the military presence on Syrian territory necessary to combat "terrorism."

"We have to make sure that there is no threat to us there," Cavusoglu said.

In addition to its support for opposition factions, Turkey has carried out several military operations in Syria, especially to confront Kurdish groups it considers "terrorist".