Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi will visit Türkiye on Wednesday, the first by a sitting president of his country in 12 years. It was also el-Sissi’s first trip to the country amid a thaw in relations between Cairo and Ankara.
“As part of the visit, President Erdoğan and President el-Sissi of Egypt will co-chair the first meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, which was restructured in accordance with the Joint Declaration signed during President Erdoğan’s visit to Cairo on Feb. 14, 2024,” the Presidential Communications Directorate said.
It follows a landmark visit by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in February to Cairo, where he received a warm welcome by el-Sissi at the airport. Deteriorated relations between the two countries are slowly being restored to new levels since both took steps for normalization in 2021.
Along with bilateral relations, Israel’s attacks on Gaza and escalating tensions in the wider Middle East will dominate the agenda of el-Sissi, especially during his anticipated meeting with Erdoğan. Egypt controls a land border with the Palestinian enclave, which has been heavily bombarded by Israel since last year and seeks an end to the conflict, which risks spilling over to a wider region, particularly to Lebanon. Türkiye, for its part, stands out as one of the few outspoken critics of Israel in the Muslim world. It cooperates with Egypt to deliver much-needed humanitarian aid to Gaza. Erdoğan and el-Sissi are expected to discuss how to increase the amount of humanitarian aid as well as facilitate their delivery to besieged Gaza.
Türkiye and Egypt upgraded relations by appointing ambassadors last year. They had maintained diplomacy at the level of charge d’affaires since the 2013 military coup, which overthrew the late Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.
After Morsi was toppled, diplomatic ties were downgraded, but economic ties remained largely unharmed. In 2022, Türkiye was the largest importer of Egyptian goods, totaling $4 billion. In 2023, Cairo allowed Turkish citizens to obtain a visa on arrival, paving the way for advanced tourism.
Normalization accelerated after Erdoğan and el-Sissi shook hands in Doha at the World Cup in 2022 and gained further pace following the deadly February 2023 earthquakes in Türkiye, Erdoğan’s reelection in May and the appointment of ambassadors to each other’s capitals in July.
Since then, the two leaders met on the sidelines of the G-20 leaders summit in September and held conversations over the phone, particularly on the latest round of the Palestine-Israel conflict that broke out on Oct. 7.
Egypt is a leading actor in resolving the Palestine-Israel conflict and hosted talks with Hamas the day Erdoğan visited Cairo. It is also the only country with a safe border crossing for Gazans and delivery of humanitarian relief.
Türkiye, currently the largest aid provider to the Palestinian enclave, has delivered its shipments through the Rafah crossing in cooperation with Egyptian authorities so far.
Pundits have argued cooperation between the two countries could help push for steps to end Israel’s occupation policy and resolve the Palestinian issue.
Including in talks with el-Sissi, Erdoğan often reiterates the need for Muslim unity to end Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip that have killed at least 40,000 Palestinians in the past 10 months.
Normalization could also lead to a breakthrough in the Eastern Mediterranean, where the region’s countries have overlapping claims on maritime borders and natural gas resources, notably with Greece and Libya.
On the business side, Egypt and Türkiye will reportedly sign bilateral agreements in fields from defense to energy, according to the media reports. The two sides are eyeing increasing the trade volume to $15 billion from around $10 billion. Anadolu Agency (AA) reported on Tuesday that some 20 deals will be signed during el-Sissi’s visit.
Commercial ties are the backbone of cooperation between two countries. Türkiye’s investments in Egypt exceed $3 billion. Ankara also seeks to develop joint projects with Egypt, which has boosted its defense industry investments in recent years. On energy, Ankara and Cairo seek to improve cooperation on LNG and renewable energy.
Egypt ranks 19th among the countries where Türkiye has direct investments of $46.5 billion.
Last year, Türkiye’s exports to Egypt amounted to $3 billion, while imports from Egypt were $3.1 billion. Major Turkish exports to Egypt include machinery, nuclear reactors and their parts, iron, steel, plastic and products made of those materials. Plastics and plastic products, fertilizers, iron and steel make up most of Egypt’s exports to Türkiye.
Mustafa Denizer, who heads the Türkiye-Egypt Business Council of Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK), told AA that positive momentum in relations instilled confidence in the business world. Denizer said they forecast new investments amounting to $500 million within the following year. He also noted that Turkish companies’ employment in Egypt reached 100,000 people. He says that Egypt had the advantage of energy investments and labor costs, noting that it was a strategic country that may serve as a production base for Türkiye. “It is our biggest partner in North Africa,” he highlighted.
