The humanitarian crisis in Gaza, exacerbated by Israel‘s continued ceasefire violations, and efforts to rebuild the Palestinian enclave after the devastation caused by the war, were the focus of much of the talk between Turkey and Egypt during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan‘s visit to Cairo on Wednesday.
Erdoğan took part in a joint press conference in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, after receiving a warm welcome on his arrival from Saudi Arabia – where Ankara and Riyadh agreed to cooperate on Syria’s reconstruction – accompanied by a delegation of ministers and businessmen.
During his speech at the press conference, the Turkish leader stressed that “the main issue on our common agenda is the Palestinian cause” and stressed that the reconstruction of Gaza requires coordinated efforts: “The humanitarian tragedy in Gaza continues. We are working together with Egypt on initiatives to make peace in Gaza possible. With God’s help, we will continue to do so. We will provide all possible support for the reconstruction of Gaza,” Erdoğan was quoted as saying by the Turkish daily Hürriyet.
He added that the two countries wished to use their fraternal ties, forged over a shared history of a thousand years, “not only for the welfare of our peoples, but also to contribute to the stability of our region, including Palestine“.
Erdoğan further noted that, thanks to the shared vision established with Al-Sisi, bilateral relations between the two countries are advancing “in all areas”, and indicated that the talks between the two leaders also addressed other regional issues, such as the need to achieve lasting stability in Libya and a ceasefire in Sudan.
Turkey and Egypt aim for closer trade ties
For his part, Al-Sisi described the contacts with Erdoğan as “productive” and stressed that the two delegations held a fruitful meeting in which several memoranda of understanding were signed in different sectors. In this regard, the Egyptian president further underlined Turkey and Egypt’s commitment to boost bilateral trade to $15 billion, for which both governments are determined to remove obstacles that may hinder this goal.
Speaking later at the Turkish-Egyptian Business Forum, Türkiye’s President stressed that Egypt is Turkey’s main trading partner in Africa: “Our goal is to raise the volume of trade, which has remained between 8 and 9 billion dollars in the last three years, to 15 billion dollars. We are pleased to see that investments of Turkish companies in Egypt are approaching 4 billion. In this forum, we will discuss investment opportunities and mutual cooperation; we also want to develop joint projects in the energy and transport sectors,” he said.
Erdoğan also commented that the strengthening of relations between the two countries has had a positive impact on bilateral tourism – last year, more than 500,000 Turkish and Egyptian tourists were welcomed in the two countries – and expressed his hope that this figure would double in the coming period. During his visit to Cairo, Turkey and Egypt also signed a wide-ranging package of cooperation agreements in areas such as defence, trade, public health, agriculture and social services.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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