Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday, as the two look to repair recently strained ties and cooperate more closely on energy, defense and the war in Gaza.
The two nations signed a high-level strategic cooperation agreement and Erdogan said the leaders have a “joint will” to improve ties in a range of areas, including in energy and defense. The countries signed 17 memorandums of understanding.
“We desire to improve our cooperation with Egypt on energy, namely in natural gas and nuclear power,” said Erdogan during a televised presser with El-Sisi.
El-Sisi’s first trip to Turkey since he became president in 2014 marks a turnaround after years of frosty relations between the two regional powers. Erdogan had visited Cairo for the first time in over a decade about six months ago.
The leaders also discussed the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, with the Egyptian president calling it “an unprecedented crisis.” Both have been highly critical of Israel’s campaign in Gaza and have called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a cease-fire. The presidents may be key actors once fighting stops and the reconstruction of Gaza eventually begins.
Turkey is keen to import liquefied natural gas from Egypt as part of its plan to be a hub for supplies to Europe. It also wants to restart freight shipping between the Turkish port of Mersin and Alexandria in Egypt.
On defense, Turkey is looking for more buyers for its armed drones and armored cars.
Erdogan’s rapprochement with Egypt is part of a broader plan to repair ties with Arab powers and use that to boost the Turkish economy through more investment and exports. He’s made a similar push with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in the past two years.
Source：FINANCIAL POST
