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Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry is set to visit Turkey's capital Ankara on Thursday where he is expected to meet his Turkish counterpartÌýMevlüt ÇavuÅŸoÄŸlu as part of rapprochement efforts between the two countries after a decade-longÌý.Ìý

The two top diplomats will continue discussing means of normalising ties in different fields and the talks they had already started duringÌýÇavuÅŸoÄŸlu's visit to Cairo last month,ÌýEgyptian foreign ministry spokesman Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid said in an officialÌýÌýreleased on Wednesday.

°Õ³ó±ðÌýÌýbetween Egypt and Turkey began in 2013 when the then-defence minister Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi overthrew the late Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically elected president and a Muslim Brotherhood senior member, supported by the Turkish government led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Since then, TurkeyÌýis known to haveÌýÌýthousands of Egyptian dissidents, including Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters, with many allowed to work for TV channels based there targeting Egyptian audiences and criticising Sisi's regime.

The Muslim Brotherhood has been legally designated a "terrorist organisation" in Egypt since 2014.

In November last year, bilateral ties seemed to have developed after Egyptian president Sisi met with his Turkish counterpart Erdogan on the sidelines of the World Cup held in Qatar, appearing in a photoÌýshaking hands.Ìý

Three months later,Ìý ShoukryÌývisitedÌýTurkeyÌýto show solidarity with the quake-hit country, the first high-level visit by a top Egyptian diplomat since bilateral relations began to improve after years of tension.

"Egypt has been undergoing a severeÌýeconomic crisisÌýfor almost two years now, which makes Sisi eager to win any allies at such a difficult stage. At the same time, Turkey has always hadÌýstrategic trade partnershipsÌýwith Egypt even during the rift. I believe Sisi is playing it smart this time," a political analyst, who preferred to remain anonymous, told °®Âþµº.

"On the other hand, cooperation with Turkey is of paramount importance as to the security fileÌý. The two states have been at oddsÌýin recent years over Libya, where each supported opposing factions in an unresolved conflict," the analyst added.