The meeting between the two leaders came on the sideline of the 18th G20 Summit that was held in India from 9-10 September.

El-Sisi and Erdogan agreed during the meeting on strengthening cooperation between the two countries, building on the tangible progress made in the last few months, according to a statement by Egyptian Presidential Spokesman Ahmed Fahmy.

They also agreed to "strengthen cooperation in regional issues based on mutual respect and according to the need to maintain security and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean region," read the statement.

The meeting between the two leaders comes on the heels of a series of steps taken by the two countries to restore relations on all levels, ending a 10-year rift.

In early July, Cairo and Ankara upgraded diplomatic relations to the ambassadorial level.

Later in July, Turkish media reported that President El-Sisi could make his first-ever official visit as president of Egypt to Turkey toward the end of the month.

However, there has been no official announcement of an exchange of visits between the two leaders to their respective capitals yet.

Meeting with Scholz

 

On Sunday, also on the sidelines of the G20 summit, President El-Sisi also met with German Chancellor Scholz.

The two leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation and consultation between the two countries, according to a separate presidential statement.

They also reviewed the current cooperation in the fields of transportation, manufacturing, and energy sectors, and means to increase German investments in Egypt and advance economic cooperation, Fahmy said in a statement.

Germany is currently Egypt’s second-largest trading partner in Europe, with a total volume of about 5.5 billion euros in bilateral trade recorded in 2022.

The meeting also discussed coordination between the two countries on combating irregular migration.

The two leaders also discussed regional and international issues, including the crisis in Sudan and Ukraine.