‘Better together’: Presidents of Egypt, Turkey seek common ground in 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.

The ‘landmark handshake’ between el-Sisi, left, and Erdogan, right, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar as Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani looks on [Handout/Press Office of the Presidency of Turkey via AFP]

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.

In Egypt, Turkey was seen as one of its main enemies as a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was being designated a terrorist organisation. Both countries expelled each other’s ambassadors and relations were downgraded.

Many Egyptian Islamist opposition members found refuge in Turkey, from where they operated critical television channels, which often magnified calls for protests in Egypt against el-Sisi.

In return, Egyptian media cheered the coup attempt in Turkey in 2016 and deplored its failure.

Other issues emerged over the years. One was Turkey’s intention to drill for natural gas in waters near Cyprus in 2019. Egypt was eyeing its own agreements with Cyprus to benefit from its offshore gas reserves.

In Libya’s conflict, Egypt and Turkey supported opposite sides.

Tensions were at their peak in early 2020 when Turkey-backed troops in Libya advanced eastwards from the capital, Tripoli. El-Sisi declared a red line beyond which he would not allow the Turkey-backed troops to advance.

For a brief moment, there was fear Egypt would enter into a confrontation with Turkey in Libya but the advance stopped at the city of Sirte, el-Sisi’s red line.

A softening

From that moment, tensions between Egypt and Turkey started to ease gradually.

Prior to that, Turkey’s regional role was geared towards hard power centred around its regional interests, explained Aykac.

It intervened militarily in conflicts such as in Syria and the usage and delivery of Turkish drones in other regional conflicts, such as in Libya, Ethiopia and Azerbaijan.

Isolated as a result of these policies and facing internal pressure as its economy suffered, Turkey decided to change tactics, Aykac said.

Then-Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, left, visited his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, in Cairo on March 18, 2023 [Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters]

Turkey reversed course in 2020-21, hoping that a return to focusing on being an important regional actor who could function as a bridge and mediator would benefit it.

Soft power, trade and diplomacy were at the core of this policy, and it sought regional rapprochements, changing “from a rigid, unilateral foreign policy to a more fluid one focused on cooperation”, according to Aykac.

In 2021, Turkey ordered Arabic channels operating in the country to tone down their criticism of el-Sisi, Egyptian opposition figure Ayman Nour said at the time.

In early 2023, 50 Egyptians in Turkey were arrested under the pretext of clamping down on foreign nationals without visas.

Egyptian media and commentators said Egyptian opposition figures were among those arrested, and considered it part of the rapprochement.

In July 2023, Egypt and Turkey restored ties and reappointed ambassadors to each other’s capitals, expressing their hopes that this would be the start of a beneficial new chapter between them.