<figure id="attachment_3275057" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3275057" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-3275057" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/d576dd91-12482701.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3275057" class="wp-caption-text">Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) had vowed never to speak to Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, but since 2023 the two leaders have met a handful of times. (EPA Images pic)</figcaption></figure>
CAIRO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on Wednesday, sealing a raft of new partnership deals and signalling a united front on regional crises in Iran, Sudan and Gaza.
Relations between Cairo and Ankara have thawed after nearly a decade of estrangement that followed Sisi&#8217;s removal of the Muslim Brotherhood-aligned president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Erdogan had vowed never to speak to Sisi, but since 2023 the two leaders have met a handful of times, exchanged visits, normalised ties and signed more than a dozen cooperation agreements, including on defence.
&#8220;Bilateral trade has reached nearly $9 billion, making Egypt Turkey&#8217;s leading trading partner in the African continent,&#8221; Sisi said at a joint news conference, after ministers from both sides signed 18 agreements spanning defence, tourism, health and agriculture.
Egypt and Turkey now form half of the mediating bloc for the current Gaza truce, back the Sudanese army in its war with paramilitary forces and share increasingly convergent positions across the region.
Sisi said they agreed on the need to implement all phases of the US-brokered Gaza truce agreement, rejecting &#8220;any attempts to circumvent or obstruct the implementation of President (Donald) Trump&#8217;s peace plan&#8221;.
The leaders added that international support was needed for early recovery and reconstruction in Gaza.
On Sudan, Sisi said both sides want to see a &#8220;humanitarian truce that leads to a ceasefire and a comprehensive political path&#8221;.
He also called for efforts to avoid escalation in the region, advance diplomatic solutions and &#8220;avert the spectre of war, whether regarding the Iranian nuclear file or concerning the region in general&#8221;.
Erdogan echoed the need for diplomacy, saying foreign interference poses &#8220;significant risks to the entire region&#8221; and that dialogue remained &#8220;the most appropriate method&#8221; for addressing disputes with Iran.
Both leaders also underscored support for Somalia&#8217;s territorial integrity amid heightened regional friction.
Both countries have backed the government of Somalia and condemned Israel&#8217;s recognition of the breakaway region of Somaliland, in what analysts say is an emerging regional security axis that includes Saudi Arabia.
Turkey agreed to supply Egypt with advanced drones in 2024 and the two countries plan to manufacture them jointly.
Erdogan arrived in Cairo after a stop in Riyadh, with his tour coinciding with US-Iran contacts initially planned for Turkey before Tehran requested a shift to Oman.

MatchPoint Times

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