Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said on Sunday that efforts to improve relations with Turkey are "welcome." Turkish-Egyptian relations deteriorated after Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, was ousted in July 2013 and the human rights violations that ensued."We welcome the convergence efforts in the framework of international laws, good neighborly relations and bilateral cooperation with Turkey," Abu Zeid said. He said that the current position of relations is "unusual." The Egyptian official said that bilateral relations with Turkey must be developed in consideration with the Egyptian people's will. Abu Zeid's remarks came shortly after Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu's statement last Thursday: "We want to enhance our relations with Egypt. We have never wanted our relations to deteriorate, but following the coup attempt relations were unavoidably torn."Prior to Çavuşoğlu's remarks, Prime Minister Binalı Yıldırım in late June also said that there is no obstacle in the way of better commercial and economic ties with Egypt, and that Turkey is ready to enter a new phase. However, following the bloody July 15 coup attempt by the Gülenist Terror Group, Egyptian officials announced that they would study its U.S.-based Fetullah Gülen's asylum request if it was made. Following the incident, Turkish-Egyptian relations were further strained.