As recent as 2019, a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sissi would have been out of question for for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In his view, el-Sissi simply was “a murderer.”
But those days of hostile rhetoric are over. On September 4, Egypt’s el-Sissi will be received in Ankara for the very first time.
“Brother” instead of “murderer”
Diplomatic ties between the two countries had plummeted in 2013, after Egypt’s democratically elected President Mohammed Morsi of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood faction was ousted in a military coup by then-Minister of Defense, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. El-Sissi became president in 2014.
The ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood though has also shaped Erdogan’s policies. He has often used the Muslim Brotherhood’s Rabaa hand gesture ever since the beginning of the protests on Cairo’s Tahrir Square in 2013.
Ahead of the 2019 Turkish local elections, Erdogan linked his party’s political opponent to the el-Sissi government: “Will we vote for (our candidate) Binali Yildirim or el-Sissi?” he then asked.
But then, relations began to thaw. Both presidents crossed paths and shook hands during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. This was followed by further diplomatic rapprochement following the devastating earthquake in Turkey in 2023.
Days after el-Sissi had called Erdogan, Egyptian Foreign Minister Samih Shukri visited the affected area.
Then, in September 2023, the two presidents met at the G20 summit in India.
This February, el-Sissi received Erdogan in Cairo and the two smiled for the cameras. Eventually, Erdogan started using the term “my dear brother” — quite a turnaround from the “murderer” of 2019.
Israel’s unifying role
Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, “Egypt has become increasingly important for Turkey,” Nasi told DW, explaining that as Turkey’s relations to Israel significantly deteriorated, Egypt emerged as a critical gateway for delivering aid to Gaza.
So the two countries’ similar stance regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is thought to have accelerated the current rapprochement. “Both countries support the Palestinians’ legitimate right to an independent state and have a shared concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza,” Selin Nasi, a political analyst at the London School of Economics, told DW.
“However, Turkey’s unwavering support for Hamas, which is considered the Palestinian branch of Muslim Brotherhood, remains a major point of divergence but the two countries have reached some sort of an understanding in which they agreed to disagree, provided that Egypt would prevent infiltration of Muslim Brotherhood affiliates across its borders, and would help keep Hamas at bay,” Nasi explained..
She sees the upcoming visit aimed at strengthening Ankara’s ties with Egypt while at the same time serving to reaffirm Turkey’s role in regional politics.
This view is echoed by Gamal Abdel Gawad, a political scientist at the Cairo-based American University. “There is a significant consensus between the two countries regarding the resolution of the conflict,” Gawad told DW, adding that cooperation between Cairo and Ankara will also make it easier to achieve their respective goals in the region.
Economic win-win
“The economies of the two countries complement each other as Egypt is energy-rich and Turkey offers solid industrial infrastructure,” Mithat Rende, a former Turkish ambassador to Qatar, told DW. “Turkish investors are very interested in Egypt,” he added.
Selin Nasi agrees. “Egypt has increasingly emerged as an important player in terms of energy” and Turkey wants to benefit from this, she explained.
Cairo is the headquarters of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum whose member states are Greece, Cyprus, France, Israel, Italy, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories, but not Turkey.
“Good news”
Observers see the easing of tensions between the two countries as a positive development with consequences far beyond the region.
“This is an excellent development for everyone,” Rende said adding that “we are talking about the two strongest armies and two of the most educated societies in the Islamic world.”
The two countries control an important share of global trade, the diplomat told DW, referring to the Bosphorus, the Dardanelles and the Suez Canal.
“We are at a time when global supply chains are breaking apart and one day, the competition between the US and China could develop into a conflict,” he said.
In his view, this could further highlight the importance of Turkey and Egypt.
This article was originally published in German.
