Ankara
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has concluded his first visit to Turkey since he took office in 2014, in what constitutes the next step in mending the ties between the two countries after his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan made his first visit to Egypt since 2014 in February.
The two presidents also headed the first meeting of the Egyptian-Turkish Strategic Cooperation Council on Wednesday.
In a 36-point declaration, the council outlined the fields in which the two countries intend to cooperate, one year before the centenary of diplomatic relations between them.
Among them was an undertaking to “promote economic and trade relations … to increase their trade volume” to $15bn, a tripling of the current annual trade volume.
‘Joint stand’
In a joint news conference after the visit, Erdogan and el-Sisi expressed their intention to deepen relations and cooperation on a number of regional political issues.
Ministers from both countries signed 18 memorandums of understanding on cooperation in fields from energy and agriculture to education, tourism and transport, with Erdogan saying he aimed to deepen cooperation with Egypt on nuclear energy and natural gas.
Some observers say there was discussion of Turkey selling drones to Egypt, but nothing official was communicated in this regard, other than an article in the declaration that pledged “expanding contacts in diverse fields, including military, security, and consular affairs”.
Politically, the two leaders spoke of cooperating in dealing with Israel’s war on Gaza.
“I reiterate the joint stand of Egypt and Turkey calling for an immediate ceasefire, rejecting further escalation by Israel in the occupied West Bank,” el-Sisi said.
Analyst Erdogan Aykac, who specialises in Turkish politics at the Netherlands’ University of Groningen, believes both Turkey and Egypt feel they are losing their grip on the situation in Gaza, and want to work together to increase their influence.
El-Sisi also mentioned the intention to work together to resolve the conflict in Libya, the issue of gas exploration rights in the Eastern Mediterranean and the civil war in Sudan.
He added that Turkey and Egypt agreed on the necessity to maintain the unity of Somalia, in reference to Somaliland’s secessionist aims.
Turkey has an important base in Somalia, while Egypt announced a deal last week to send arms to Somalia to counter Ethiopia’s influence in the Horn of Africa.
The rift
Such a news conference would have been unthinkable five years ago.
A rift that started in 2013 showed the first sign of mending when photos were shared around the world of the “landmark handshake” between Erdogan and el-Sisi at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
From the Turkish side, the rapprochement stemmed from a general shift in foreign policy from 2020-21 onwards. For Egypt, rapprochement came after reconciliation with Turkey’s ally Qatar in early 2021, its suffering economy possibly, making it more open to opportunity.
Relations had soured after then-General el-Sisi ousted late President Mohamed Morsi in a popular coup in 2013 and started a crackdown on Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.
Erdogan became one of the fiercest critics of el-Sisi’s power grab, saying he would never recognise him as Egypt’s legitimate leader.
