Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi meets with the Turkish leader in Ankara amid warming relations between the regional powers.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for deeper ties between Turkey and Egypt 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 rapprochement in long-frozen relations between the regional powers.
At a joint press conference with el-Sisi, Erdogan said the two countries had reaffirmed their willingness to improve relations in all areas, including trade, defense, health, energy and the environment.
“My visit to Turkey opens the way to a new stage in economic and trade relations,” said el-Sisi. “In recent years, we have witnessed an increase in communication between the two nations.”
“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' remarks.
Reporting from Ankara, Al Jazeera's Resul Serdar said 17 agreements were signed, most of them focused on trade deals. He said the leaders discussed Israel's war in 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 needs and common security challenges have forced both of us to come together,” he said.
After a decade of frosty relations, the two leaders said they had taken a “new turn” in their ties in February when Ergodan visited Cairo.
In 2013, Ankara and Cairo cut ties after el-Sisi, then Egypt's defense minister, led a coalition to oust President Mohamed Morsi, an ally of Turkey and part of the Muslim Brotherhood movement.
Erdogan then said he would never talk to “anyone” like el-Sisi, who in 2014 became president of the most populous nation in the Arab world.
Despite the decade-long estrangement, trade between the two countries continued: Turkey is Egypt's fifth-largest trading partner, while Egypt is Turkey's largest partner in Africa.
