In a significant step toward mending ties between the regional powers, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan visited President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday, his first visit to Egypt since 2012.
Erdogan stated that Israel’s attack in the Gaza Strip will be the main topic of discussion. The leaders were scheduled to conduct a joint news conference later. Their relationship had deteriorated due to Egypt’s military takeover in 2013 and the consequences it had for the Muslim Brotherhood.
The visit concludes diplomatic attempts to soften the icy ties between the two countries in previous years. Last year, they each appointed ambassadors, and this month, Turkey said that it would arm Egypt’s drones.
Relations between Ankara and Cairo broke down in 2013 after Egypt’s then-army chief Sisi led the ouster of the Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi, an ally of Turkey who had become Egypt’s first democratically elected president the year before.
Sisi greeted Erdogan as he emerged from his plane in Cairo with his wife and they conversed as they walked along a red carpet amid a fanfare, live television footage showed.
According to a draft programme, Sisi and Erdogan were to hold bilateral talks before a meeting between the two delegations, with a formal dinner planned.
Erdogan has sought to ease tensions with Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Israel since 2021 – though since October he has publicly sniped with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s devastating war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.
Egypt, Israel, Qatar and the United States held inconclusive talks on Tuesday in search of a Gaza truce agreement. Cairo has made clear it will not allow an exodus of Gaza refugees over its border with the shattered Palestinian territory.
Mursi died in prison in Egypt in 2019. Other senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood are jailed in Egypt or have fled abroad, including to Turkey. The Brotherhood remains outlawed in Egypt.
