Egypt's Sisi pays rare visit to Türkiye after diplomatic thaw

Türkiye and Egypt have agreed to enhance bilateral relations with a win-win approach, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.

He made the remarks at a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who arrived in Ankara earlier in the day for an official visit, the first of its kind in 12 years.

The visit came as the two countries seek to normalize their relations after over decade-long animosity.

At the same press conference, Sisi expressed hope that his visit would pave the way to "a new phase" of cooperation and integration between the two countries, according to a statement by the Egyptian presidency.

During his visit, Sisi and Erdogan co-chaired the inaugural meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, following which the ministers of the two countries signed a series of cooperation agreements.

Erdogan highlighted the goal of "increasing bilateral trade volume to $15 billion in the next five years," adding that the two sides have affirmed their willingness to improve relations in various areas, including trade, defense, health, and energy.

Egypt and Türkiye were at odds in the past decade, mainly because of the ouster of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 and the subsequent banning of his Türkiye-backed Muslim Brotherhood group, which led both countries to expel each other's ambassadors.

A thaw of the long-frozen bilateral ties loomed in 2020 when Ankara initiated a diplomatic effort to reduce tensions with its one-time foes in the region, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

Last year, Ankara and Cairo mutually reappointed ambassadors. In February, Erdogan made his first visit to Egypt since 2012, scoring another success in Türkiye's reset of relations with estranged regional rivals.

Taking Sisi's Ankara visit as a fresh push in the two sides' reconciliation efforts, analysts indicated that the two regional powers, through burying the hatchet, have sealed a full-on normalization.

Batu Coskun from TRENDS Research & Advisory, a research center based in the UAE, said, "Sisi's visit to Ankara represents a new sign of trust in the bilateral relationship."

Meanwhile, some expect coordination between the two regional powers to address regional crises, such as the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Oytun Orhan, a senior researcher at Ankara's Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies, said Türkiye and Egypt are likely to increase their cooperation to help end the Gaza crisis, noting that "Türkiye has been coordinating humanitarian activities with Egyptian authorities to aid Gaza."

Orhan added that the two nations' improvement of ties and cooperation will also help promote stability and peace in various crisis spots across the region, such as Libya and Sudan.