Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty visited Ankara last week, where he met Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
While discussions focused largely on regional developments, especially in Gaza and Syria, they also served to highlight improved Turkey–Egypt relations following years of strained ties.
“Relations are progressing positively and steadily,” Oytun Orhan, a Turkish Middle East expert, told The Epoch Times.
“Issues like Syria and the Gaza crisis could pave the way for further cooperation since both countries share common interests.”
At a Feb. 4 meeting with Erdogan, Abdelatty delivered a message from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, with whom Erdogan has had a rocky relationship in the past.
He went on to describe Turkey–Egypt coordination as a “necessity” given the current precarious state of the Middle East.
Like most countries of the region, Turkey and Egypt support a permanent cease-fire in Gaza and a two-state solution to the decades-long Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
They have also coordinated efforts to let humanitarian aid into Gaza, which is home to nearly 2 million Palestinians and shares a border with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
Orhan, a Levant specialist at Ankara’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, acknowledged that Turkey and Egypt still don’t see eye to eye on a number of regional issues.
But the Gaza crisis, he said, had “given momentum” to an ongoing process of diplomatic reconciliation that has been underway for the past several years.
According to Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict has long been an issue “that Turkey and Egypt can agree on and use to demonstrate common ground.”
Decade-Long Thaw
Turkey–Egypt relations were deeply impacted by the 2011 “Arab Spring,” when Ankara backed popular uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa, including a full-fledged revolution in Egypt.Relations bottomed out in 2013 when the Egyptian army—led by al-Sisi—ousted and imprisoned Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president and a Muslim Brotherhood leader, in a military coup.
For the next several years, Turkey refused to recognize al-Sisi, who had assumed power after the coup, as Egypt’s legitimate president.
But relations started to thaw in 2022, when Erdogan met his Egyptian counterpart—and shook his hand—on the sidelines of the Soccer World Cup in Doha, Qatar.
This began a rapid process of normalization, which culminated later in the same year when the two countries exchanged ambassadors for the first time since Egypt’s 2013 coup.
In February last year, Erdogan visited Cairo—for the first time since Morsi’s ouster—where he met with al-Sisi.
Talks focused largely on Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, with both leaders stressing the need for a cease-fire and reiterating calls for a two-state solution.
At the time, al-Sisi said Erdogan’s landmark visit had “opened a new page” in bilateral ties and set relations “on the right track.”
In September 2024, al-Sisi visited Turkey, where the two leaders reiterated calls for a cease-fire in Gaza and their shared support for Palestinian statehood.
According to Orhan, “high-level” talks are ongoing between Turkish and Egyptian officials regarding bilateral trade, the economy, and security issues.
“Both sides are trying to mediate between Israel and Hamas,” he said. “Both are trying to de-escalate the situation and prevent the spread of regional conflict.”
Since the return of U.S. President Donald Trump to the White House, he said, the Israel–Hamas cease-fire process has led to “increased contact” between Cairo and Ankara.
“And now we have another common concern: Trump’s plan to push the Palestinians out of Gaza,” he said.
Last week, Trump proposed that the United States could take over and rebuild Gaza.
Speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, he also repeated earlier assertions that Palestinians living in Gaza could be resettled in neighboring Arab states.
In subsequent remarks to Fox News, Trump said that under his plan, Palestinians wouldn’t be allowed to return to Gaza following U.S.-led reconstruction efforts.
According to Orhan, Trump’s proposal constitutes a “red line” for both Turkey and Egypt and “another thing that will drive the two countries together.”
Addressing reporters this week, Fidan, Turkey’s foreign minister, said Ankara would oppose Trump’s controversial resettlement scheme “until the end.”
“We are in solidarity with Egypt on this matter,” he said.
In a joint statement issued after the Turkish and Egyptian foreign ministers’ meeting, both sides voiced their rejection of “any attempts to displace or expel Palestinians from their homeland.”
‘Differences’ Over Syria
At this week’s meeting in Ankara, the two foreign ministers also discussed the current situation in Syria, which shares a long border with southern Turkey.Late last year, the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad abruptly collapsed in the face of a Turkey-backed rebel offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a terrorist group with previous links to al-Qaeda.
Speaking to reporters, Fidan said that he and Abdelatty had discussed the security, economic, and humanitarian situation in post-Assad Syria.
“Syria’s transformation into a stable and peaceful country will benefit all of us at the regional level,” Fidan said, stressing the need to support the country’s new leadership with a view to ensuring a legitimate political transition.
Abdelatty reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to helping the Syrian people, ensuring the war-torn country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and encouraging an inclusive political process.
Last week, HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa (formerly known as Mohamed al-Golani) was named Syria’s interim president for an unspecified “transitional phase.”
On Feb. 4, al-Sharaa paid a visit to Ankara, where he met Erdogan and other Turkish officials.
At a joint press conference with Erdogan, al-Sharaa said that Syria—under his leadership—hoped to forge a “strategic partnership” with NATO member Turkey.
But while Turkey fully supported the HTS-led offensive against Assad, Egypt, by contrast, has shown less enthusiasm for the Syrian leader’s removal from power.
“Al-Sisi’s and Erdogan’s policies toward the Assad regime were diametrically opposed,” Landis told The Epoch Times. “Al-Sisi did not want to see an Islamist overthrow of Syria’s military dictator for fear that he might be next.
“Now that Assad has been overthrown, however, al-Sisi and Erdogan are looking for common ground in their approach to President al-Sharaa’s new government.”
Orhan also acknowledged that the two countries had “differences” over Syria.
“Egypt is not fully satisfied with the regime change in Syria,” he said. “They have some concerns.
“Al-Sisi congratulated al-Sharaa on his appointment as Syria’s president, which was a positive signal from Egypt. But concerns remain, and Turkey could play a mediating role in this regard.
“Turkey can act as a bridge [between Damascus and Cairo] to ease these concerns and encourage direct diplomatic engagement and normalization between the two countries.
“In that sense, working together in Syria could be another factor pushing both countries [Turkey and Egypt] toward further reconciliation.”
Al-Sharaa, meanwhile, has sought to distance himself from his earlier ties with al-Qaeda, pledging to safeguard the rights of Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities.
Last month, Syria’s new HTS-led authorities detained an Egyptian militant from among their ranks who had posted threats online saying al-Sisi would meet the same fate as Assad.
“Al-Sharaa has backed away from the Salafist language and policies of many of his followers,” Landis said. “Egyptian Jihadists who spoke of overthrowing the Egyptian government have been suppressed.
“Al-Sharaa has proclaimed that the revolution is over. He does not intend to export it. This is reassuring to al-Sisi and smooths the way for better Turkish–Egyptian relations.”
According to Landis, Ankara’s support for Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated groups in the region—including Hamas—“remains an irritant in Turkey–Egypt relations.”
“All the same,” he said, “Erdogan has won a major victory in Syria and needs to consolidate his gains.”
