Egypt and Turkey Seal Historic Deal: 18 Memorandums of Understanding Signed During Sisi’s Landmark Visit

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, on the first visit to Turkey since al-Sisi took office as president, discussing the war in the Gaza Strip and ways to reform relations between the two countries. in Egypt

Relations between Ankara and Cairo deteriorated in 2013 after Egyptian army commander Sisi announced the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, who belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood, following popular protests against his one-year rule. Morsi was an ally of Turkey and is described as the first democratically elected Egyptian president. Morsi visited Turkey in 2012 when he was president.

Relations between the two countries began to improve in 2020 when Ankara began a diplomatic campaign to ease tensions with powers in the region, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Türkiye and Egypt exchanged ambassadorial appointments last year. Ankara has announced that it will supply armed drones to Cairo.

Sisi’s visit to Turkey follows Erdogan’s visit to Cairo in February, his first visit to Egypt since 2012, which took a major step toward rebuilding relations that have been severely strained for a decade.

Erdogan said during his stay in Cairo that the two countries wanted to increase trade from $10 billion to $15 billion in the near term.

Erdogan greeted Sisi at Ankara airport on Wednesday before they left together in a motorcade, traveling in the same car to the presidential palace to attend a reception and hold talks for about two hours.

“Through a win-win thinking, we will advance our multidimensional relations,” Erdogan said, adding that Ankara wants to strengthen relations with Egypt, especially in the areas of natural gas and nuclear energy.

The ministers of the two countries signed 18 MoUs on cooperation in various fields including energy, defence, tourism, health, agriculture, finance, culture, education and transport.

At the joint press conference, Erdogan reiterated Turkey’s and Egypt’s desire to increase annual trade by $5 billion to $15 billion in the next five years.

He added that Ankara and Cairo have a “common position” on the Palestinian issue, and Sisi said they called for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and an end to violence in the West Bank.

Turkey, which condemns Israel for its war in the Gaza Strip, has sent thousands of tons of aid to Egypt for the Palestinians and praised Cairo’s humanitarian efforts and its role as a negotiator and mediator in negotiations to reach a cease-fire agreement and release hostages.

Sisi said they also discussed the situation in Libya. The positions of both countries are on opposite sides on this issue, as each of them supports the warring parties in the conflict.

He continued, “We exchanged views on the Libyan crisis and agreed to consult within our institutions to achieve security and political stability in Libya, while emphasizing the importance of turning the page on that escalating crisis by holding presidential and legislative elections. From the country The withdrawal of illegal foreign forces and mercenaries, and an end to the phenomenon of armed militias so that Libya can “end the manifestation of division, brothers, and achieve security and stability.”