U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy, as the two attend the 50th anniversary African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on May 25, 2013. Read more about the Secretary’s visit to Ethiopia here. [State Department photos/ Public Domain]

Why are youth-led innovation and entrepreneurship important to diplomacy? Find out Thursday, April 4 at 9:00 a.m. EDT during a Google+ Hangout with the U.S. Department of State’s Special Adviser on Global Youth Issues Zeenat Rahman and young innovators from the United States, Ghana, and Egypt. You can watch the hangout on the State Department’s Google+ page or YouTube channel. Join the conversation by submitting questions now on the State Department’s Google+ page or on Twitter to @Zeenat using #GlobalYouth.

Highlights from Secretary Kerry’s first international trip, including Ankara, Cairo, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Doha. [Go to http://video.state.gov for more video and text transcript.]

About the Author: Patricia Kabra serves as Counselor for Press and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt.

On Saturday, March 2, Secretary of State John Kerry departed Turkey for Egypt, where this past weekend he met with representatives across the spectrum of Egyptian political and civil society — as well as our employees at the U.S. Embassy. The Secretary’s candor in all of his meetings was refreshing for politicians and businessmen alike. In his meetings, Secretary Kerry conveyed a simple but serious message: “The brave Egyptians who stood vigil in Tahrir Square did not risk their lives to see that opportunity for a brighter future squandered. The Egyptian people must come together to address their economic challenge.”

In light of Egypt’s urgent needs and President Morsy’s assurance that he plans to complete the IMF process, Secretary Kerry announced that the United States will now… more »

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visits Cairo, Egypt, on March 2, 2013.

Joint Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Foreign Ministry
Cairo, Egypt
March 2, 2013

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much. Shokran. Thank you very much, Mr. Foreign Minister. It’s a great pleasure for me to be back here in Egypt. And I thank you and President Morsy and the Egyptian people for a generous welcome. Thank you.

As you know, I’ve been to Egypt many times over the course of some 29 years. And I had the privilege of being here only a few weeks after the events in January in Tahrir Square. Then I came back with Senator McCain when we tried to help with some of the economic issues shortly thereafter. And each time that I’ve come here, I’ve tried to make it clear, and I make it particularly clear now on behalf of President Obama and the American people that we come here as friends for the Egyptian people, not for one government or one person or one party or ideology, but for the Egyptian people.

The Foreign Minister and I have just had a very constructive first meeting in which we have discussed a number of the issues of importance: Syria, the Mid-East peace process, and we agreed to continue those discussions over dinner and other topics. And we will certainly discuss in some depth how the United States can continue to help the Egyptian people achieve their aspirations for democracy and for opportunity. As your long time friends and partners, the American people support Egypt’s political and economic success and want to help work for that success. MORE

Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Marriott Zamalek Hotel
Cairo, Egypt
March 2, 2013

SECRETARY KERRY: I apologize to everybody for being detained, but I had a very, very spirited, as you can imagine, conversation with members of the opposition, and it was really valuable – very, very valuable. And I’m very grateful to them for taking the time to come and share thoughts. It was really a conversation – we could have gone on for a couple of more hours, and I wish I’d had the time actually to do that because I thought it was very productive.

But I particularly am glad to be back here in Cairo and back here with some of you I met previously and others for the first time. But this is my first trip to Cairo as Secretary of State, obviously, and a lot of things have been happening in the course of the last year, so I wanted to have a chance to be able to talk with you a little bit about the economic challenge that Egypt is facing. MORE

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry delivers remarks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr in Cairo, Egypt, on March 2, 2013. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]

Photo Gallery | Trip Page

From February 24 to March 6, Secretary of State John Kerry is traveling to the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. Follow his trip on www.state.gov.

Press Statement
Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
February 19, 2013

From February 24 to March 6, Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. MORE