The Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s visit to Egypt last week built on earlier steps to enhance bilateral relations and prepare the ground for President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi’s first visit to Turkey.

The visit is important, says professor of political science Tarek Fahmi, because Fidan is not only Turkey’s serving foreign minister but a former intelligence chief and an architect of Egyptian-Turkish relations.

Fahmi highlighted recent positive developments in bilateral relations, beginning with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Egypt six months ago.

The war in Gaza topped the agendas of both countries during the latest visit. Both Cairo and Ankara have called relentlessly for a ceasefire and expressed mounting concerns about the deteriorating humanitarian situation.

In a press conference, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Turkish counterpart said both countries are exploring every avenue to stop Israel’s war in Gaza from escalating into a wider regional conflict.

Fahmi stressed that coordination between Egypt and Turkey will be needed in any future security and strategic arrangements in Gaza, including for the Strip’s reconstruction and, in collaboration with Jordan, for the supervision of Islamic religious sites.

“At different stages in the Gaza truce talks, some Palestinian factions, including Hamas, called for Turkish, Chinese, and Russian involvement,” added Fahmi.

During the press conference, Fidan said Turkey is closely watching the International Court of Justice (ICJ) case against Israel and has plans to file an application to join the case on Wednesday.

“The key to peace in the Middle East lies in the creation of a Palestinian state,” he told the press conference.

Bilateral relations were also high on the agenda of Fidan’s visit. In the joint press conference held after their meeting, Abdelatty stressed how exchanged visits play a significant role in boosting regional cooperation and stability. Fidan told the conference that Turkey was happy to work with Egypt to advance cooperation in the educational and cultural fields, including higher education.

Both diplomats said they were working to upgrade bilateral trade from close to $10 billion to $15 billion.

Turkey was the largest importer of Egyptian goods in 2022, when Egyptian exports totalled $4 billion. In 2023, Cairo allowed Turkish citizens to obtain a visa on arrival in Egypt, a move that contributed to boosting tourism. Turkish investments in Egypt currently amount to $3 billion.

The crises in Libya and Sudan and the situation in the Red Sea and Yemen were among the other regional issues Abdelatty and Fidan discussed.

Until recently, conflict over maritime borders in the gas-rich Eastern Mediterranean had strained bilateral relations. Now, said a diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity, “gas has become an issue on which we can build a framework aligning joint strategic priorities.”

The first leg of Fidan’s trip was Rafah. During his brief visit, he said he was standing only a few hundred metres from a humanitarian tragedy.

“Two million people are displaced [in Gaza], and some 40,000, including women and children, have been martyred,” he told reporters. “There is no medicine, food, or water. There are only our Palestinian brothers and sisters facing famine.”

“Western countries, particularly the US, should break their silence or else they will remain partners in this genocide.”

During Fidan’s meeting with Abul-Gheit, the plight of Palestinians dominated discussions.

Abul-Gheit stressed the need for the international community to protect the Palestinian people and press forcefully for an immediate ceasefire.

For almost a decade following the ousting of Egypt’s Islamist president Mohamed Morsi following mass protests in 2013, diplomatic relations had been strained. They began to normalise after Erdogan and President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi shook hands in Doha during the 2022 World Cup, and gathered pace following the devastating earthquakes in Turkey in February 2023 when Egypt’s then foreign minister Sameh Shoukri visited Turkey to show solidarity.  

During his visit to Ankara, the first in almost a decade, Shoukri said that the visit was a message of friendship between Egypt and Turkey.

The same year saw the appointment of ambassadors to each other’s capitals in July. Al-Sisi and Erdogan subsequently met on the sidelines of the G20 leaders summit in September and have held a number of conversations over the phone, especially with regards to developments in Gaza.

Erdogan’s visit to Cairo further boosted relations. The two countries signed a joint declaration convening a High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council headed by the two presidents. The council’s inaugural meeting will be held in Turkey during President Al-Sisi’s expected visit.

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* A version of this article appears in print in the 15 August, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly