Abdel Fattah El-Sisi visits Turkiye for the first time after decade-long rift with Erdogan
The two nations are set to sign agreements on defense, energy, and trade and will convene the inaugural meeting of a strategic cooperation council
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi arrived in Ankara on 4 September for his first official visit to Turkiye since taking office a decade ago.
Upon arrival, he briefly met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the airport’s Hall of Honour before traveling to the Turkish Presidential Complex. An official reception ceremony was held for Sisi upon his arrival at the complex.
“I am very pleased with my first visit to the Republic of Turkey and my meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,” Sisi wrote on his official Facebook page on the same day.
The visit is in response to Erdogan’s trip to Cairo in February, which officially ended the diplomatic and political tensions between the two governments and opened talks on Ankara acquiring a state-owned Egyptian bank.
Tensions had begun in 2013 when Sisi, through a military coup, ousted Mohamed Morsi, a democratically-elected leader and ally of Erdogan.
Before the visit, several Turkish officials had informed Middle East Eye (MEE) that Ankara aims to sell weapons, particularly drones, to Cairo and strengthen their existing cooperation in energy and trade.
Discussions regarding Ankara’s arms sales to Cairo began in May, following a visit by a senior Egyptian military delegation to Turkiye’s two leading drone manufacturers, Baykar and TAI.
Turkish drones have been involved in several international conflicts, including in Ukraine, Libya, Syria, Ethiopia, and Azerbaijan.
Ammar Fayed, a geopolitical analyst and head of research at the Turkiye-based Asbab think tank, stated that the sale of Turkish drones to Egypt, whether during this visit or in the future, would represent a major milestone in the relationship between the two nations.
Erdogan and Sisi are anticipated to sign agreements for various sectors, including finance, energy, environment, urban planning, and health, during the visit on Wednesday, according to a Turkish official speaking to MEE.
Additionally, Bilgehan Ozturk, a regional expert at the Ankara-based Seta think tank, told MEE that Ankara aims to diversify its gas sources and is looking to boost its imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Egypt.
In August during a visit to Egypt’s capital, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan revealed that both nations are also working to expand the scope of a free trade agreement and to revive the ro-ro maritime transport line between Mersin and Alexandria.
Furthermore, in February, Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat revealed that both countries aim to increase bilateral trade by 50 percent within the next five years. In July, the two nations exchanged diplomatic representatives for the first time in over a decade, marking a significant step in bolstering relations.