ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi discussed the Gaza war and ways to further repair the long-frozen ties between the regional powers during talks in Ankara, in the first such presidential visit in 12 years. Relations between Ankara and Cairo collapsed in 2013 after Egypt’s then-army chief Sisi led the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi, a Turkish ally who had become Egypt’s first democratically elected president the year before.

Ties between the two countries began thawing in 2020 when Ankara launched a diplomatic drive to ease tensions with its estranged regional rivals, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Last year, Ankara and Cairo mutually reappointed ambassadors and Turkey said it would also provide Cairo with armed drones. Erdogan traveled to Cairo in February for his first trip to Egypt since 2012.

He met Sisi at Ankara airport on Wednesday and the two then traveled in the same car to the presidential palace for around two hours of talks. “With a win-win mindset, we will carry our multi-dimensional ties forward,” Erdogan said, adding Ankara particularly wanted to deepen ties with Egypt on natural gas and nuclear energy. Ministers from the two countries signed 18 memoranda of understanding on cooperation in energy, defense, tourism, health, agriculture, finance, culture, education and transport.

Despite the decade of estrangement, trade between the two countries never ceased: Turkey is Egypt’s fifth-largest trading partner, while Egypt is Turkey’s largest in Africa.

Speaking at a joint press conference, Erdogan reiterated that Turkey and Egypt wanted to boost annual trade by $5 billion to $15 billion in the next five years. He added that Ankara and Cairo shared a “common stance” on the Palestinian cause, while Sisi said they were both calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to violence in the West Bank.

Turkey, which has condemned the Zionist entity for its war against Hamas militants in Gaza, has sent thousands of tons of aid to Egypt for Palestinians and praised Cairo’s humanitarian efforts and role as negotiator in the talks on a ceasefire and hostage deal. Sisi said they also discussed the situation in Libya, over which the two countries have long been at odds and backed opposing factions in an unresolved conflict.

“We stress that it is important to turn the page on the ongoing crisis through holding presidential and parliamentary elections simultaneously with the exit of illegal foreign forces and mercenaries from the country, and put an end to the presence of armed militias to end the division,” he said. Sisi said they also discussed Somalia, saying they agreed on the need to “preserve the unity and territorial integrity” of the country. – Agencies