It is the first visit by Erdogan to the country in 12 years. The two presidents shook hands on the tarmac as Erdogan and first lady Emine Erdogan disembarked their plane arriving from Dubai, where the Turkish president attended a summit on Tuesday.
Erdogan said earlier that discussions would focus on the Palestine-Israel conflict. The leaders, whose relations frayed over Egypt's 2013 military coup, are set to hold a news conference later in the day.
The visit caps diplomatic efforts in recent years to thaw the nations' frosty relations. They mutually appointed ambassadors last year, and this month Türkiye said it would provide Egypt with armed drones.
After former President Mohammed Morsi was toppled, diplomatic ties were downgraded but economic ties remained largely unharmed. In 2022, Türkiye was the largest importer of Egyptian goods, totaling $4 billion (TL 123 billion). In 2023, Cairo allowed Turkish citizens to obtain a visa on arrival, paving the way for advanced tourism.
Normalization accelerated after Erdogan and el-Sissi shook hands in Doha at the World Cup in 2022 and gained further pace following the deadly February 2023 earthquakes in Türkiye, Erdogan’s reelection in May and the appointment of ambassadors to each other’s capitals in July.
Since then, the two leaders met on the sidelines of the G-20 leaders summit in September and held conversations over the phone, particularly on the latest round of the Palestine-Israel conflict that broke out on Oct. 7.
AzVision.az
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