With his reception by the Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi his official visit began at Cairo airport Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Egypt. The two leaders then proceeded to the presidential palace.
Turkish news television networks interrupted their program flow to broadcast live the arrival of the Turkish president in the Egyptian capital.
This is the first visit by a Turkish president to Egypt in 12 years, with Tayyip Erdogan appearing determined to turn over a “new page” in his relations with the Egyptian president, whom he once called a coup plotter and a murderer, making a 180-degree turn.
After last May's presidential elections and Erdogan's re-election in Turkey, Turkish sources reported that a visit by Al Sisi in Ankara, a visit that finally did not take place, did not happen.
The ice between the two presidents began to break in November 2022, when they shook hands on the sidelines of the World Cup in Qatarand after the mutual appointment of ambassadors by the two countries last summer
During the Erdoğan-Al-Sisi meeting, one of the topics on the agenda is expected to be the energy equation in the Eastern Mediterraneanwithout officially clarifying from the Turkish side whether the negotiations with Egypt for the delimitation of maritime zones of jurisdiction are at a mature stage.
In the talks with Cairo, Ankara highlights the developments surrounding the war in Gaza as the most important issue. Both Ankara and Cairo strongly oppose Israeli operations in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Al-Sisi's government fears that these will drive thousands of Palestinians to Egypt, and for this reason Cairo has repeatedly declared that an Israeli operation in Rafah is a “red line”.
It will not be a surprise if the Turkish president visits the Rafah border crossing during his stay in Egypt. The two leaders they are expected to send messages mainly to promote humanitarian aid through the Rafah Gate.
One of the main chapters in the talks between the two presidents is the Libya, where the two countries support opposing civil war forces. Turkey, which supports the government in Tripoli, is now also throwing bridges to eastern Libyan forces based in Benghazi.
A “thorn” for Cairo is the presence in Turkey of members of the Muslim Brotherhood, “mortal enemies” of the Al-Sisi government. When Ankara decided to normalize its relations with Cairo two years ago, it stopped the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood members in Turkey.
Another issue is the sale of Turkish drones to Egypt as well as bilateral trade. Turkey is the 6th country for exports and the 3rd for imports of Egypt, with a trade volume of 10 billion dollars.
For Ankara, Erdoğan's visit to Cairo constitutes the culmination of Turkey's “return” to the Middle Eastafter a long period of tensions with the majority of countries in the region.
Source: News Beast
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