Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has called for efforts to “open together a new chapter” in the country’s relations with Türkiye as he welcomed his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s first visit to Cairo in more than 10 years.
In a speech delivered at a joint press conference with the Turkish president, Sisi hoped that the two countries would “enrich the bilateral relations and put them back on the right trajectory” following Erdogan’s visit, which was made amid regional tensions topped by the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.
“Currently, Egypt is Türkiye’s largest trading partner in Africa, while Türkiye is one of the major destinations for Egyptian exports,” Sisi told the press conference.
Speaking of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Egyptian president said that he agreed with his Turkish counterpart “on the imperative need to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip with utmost urgency and restore calm in the West Bank, so as to pave the way for the resumption of the peace process at the earliest opportunity, leading to the declaration of a sovereign Palestinian State.”
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza has been a major lifeline to provide the enclave with relief supplies donated by Egypt and other countries, including Türkiye, as well as local and international organizations since Israel launched its deadly military campaign on Gaza last October. Israel’s offensive was in retaliation for Hamas’ surprise attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people.
Sisi valued the current level of cooperation between Egypt and Türkiye for rapid delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, noting that Israel’s “rigorous restrictions” slowed the entry of aid trucks.
For his part, Erdogan said Türkiye was willing to improve ties with Egypt.
He also invited Sisi to visit Ankara in April for the first meeting of the new strategic cooperation council between the two countries, which was accepted by the Egyptian leader.
“I believe this meeting will be a new stage for our bilateral relations,” the Turkish leader told the joint press conference, noting that he had discussed with Sisi doubling the annual volume of trade exchange between the two countries to 15 billion U.S. dollars in the coming few years and increasing Turkish investments in Egypt.
Erdogan said “the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza” was the focus of his talks with his Egyptian counterpart, regretting that the Israeli attacks on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, have killed over 28,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 68,000 others.
“Delivering aid to Gaza is one of our priorities,” he said, pointing out that Türkiye has so far sent over 31,000 tonnes of relief supplies to the besieged enclave.
