Sisi voices to Putin Egypt's solidarity with Russia against terrorism

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi made a phone call Wednesday evening to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, offering condolences over the recent assassination of Russian ambassador to Turkey and voicing Egypt's support for Russia's campaign against terrorism, official MENA news agency reported.

"Sisi affirmed the solidarity of the Egyptian leadership and people with Russia in its confrontation of sinful terrorist forces and their attempts to destabilize states and horrify innocent people," the report added.

On Monday, Russian ambassador Andrei Karlov was shot dead from behind by a gunman at an art gallery in Ankara. The assassin, who was gunned down later by the Turkish police, turned out to be a Turkish policeman named Mevlut Mert Altintas.

Also on Monday, a deadly truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany, left 12 people dead. A 23-year-old Tunisian man was later arrested as a main suspect.

President Sisi told Putin that the sporadic terrorist attacks around the world "highlight the necessity to unite international efforts to combat terrorism and take active measures in this regard."

Russia suspended its flights to Egypt since a bomb brought down a Russian plane in Egypt's Sinai and killed over 200 Russians in October 2015.

For his part, the Russian president expressed appreciation for Egypt's support and promised a soon resumption of Russian flights and return of Russian tourists to Egypt, which has been greatly welcomed by Sisi.

Since September 2015, Russia has been sending troops and military equipments to Syria to assist the military of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against armed rebels until they have recently took control of rebel-held Aleppo city after deadly attacks that killed hundreds, mostly civilians.

On Tuesday, following a meeting at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Arab and European foreign ministers urged intra-Syria talks as basis for political settlement and strongly condemned Syrian regime's recent attacks on Aleppo.

Since it erupted in March 2011, the Syrian crisis has claimed the lives of about 500,000 people and displaced more than 10 million. Endit