Egypt’s el-Sisi says Turkey visit paves way for ‘new phase’ in relations

Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi meets Turkish leader in Ankara amid a warming in ties between the regional powers.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for deeper Turkey-Egypt ties after talks with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Ankara.

El-Sisi met Erdogan in the Turkish capital on Wednesday, the first such presidential visit in 12 years, amid a warming of long-frozen relations between the regional powers.

Speaking at a joint press conference with el-Sisi, Erdogan said the two countries had reaffirmed their will to improve relations in every area, including trade, defence, health, energy, and environmental matters.

“My visit to Turkey paves the way for a new phase in economic and trade relations,” el-Sisi said. “We witnessed an increase in communication between two nations in recent years.”

“We will enhance our multifaceted relations in a win-win manner,” Erdogan said, adding that the two countries have a common stance on the Palestinian issue and that their contributions to regional peace and stability are “vital”.

Ministers from both countries signed a series of agreements ahead of the leaders’ statements.

Reporting from Ankara, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar said that 17 agreements, mostly focusing on trade deals, were signed. He said the leaders discussed Israel’s war on Gaza, with a focus on finding solutions to coordinate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian territory.

Serdar said the meeting marked a new era in relations between Turkey and Egypt, whose leaders have been at odds on various conflicts and political issues for years.

“I think geopolitical necessities and common security challenges have forced both to come together,” he said.

After a decade of frosty relations, the two leaders said they had turned over a “new leaf” in ties in February, when Ergodan visited Cairo.

In 2013, Ankara and Cairo cut ties after el-Sisi, then defence minister of Egypt, led a coalition to remove President Mohamed Morsi, an ally of Turkey and part of the Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Erdogan said at the time that he would never speak to “anyone” like el-Sisi, who in 2014 became president of the Arab world’s most populous nation.

Despite the decade of estrangement, trade between the two countries continued: Turkey is Egypt’s fifth-largest trading partner, while Egypt is Turkey’s largest partner in Africa.