With his reception by the Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at Cairo airport the official visit of Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Egypt began.

The two leaders then proceeded to the presidential palace.

It’s about her first visit of a Turkish president to Egypt after 12 yearswith Tayyip Erdogan appearing determined to turn one “new page” in his relations with the Egyptian presidentwho he once called a coup d’état and a murderer, making a 180-degree turn.

The news Turkish television networks interrupted the stream of their program to broadcast live the arrival of the Turkish president in the Egyptian capital.

After last May’s presidential election and Erdogan’s re-election in Turkey, Turkish sources leaked the information that Al Sisi was about to visit Ankara, a visit that ultimately did not take place. The ice between the two presidents began to break in November 2022, when they shook hands on the sidelines of the World Cup in Qatar, and after the two countries mutually appointed ambassadors last summer.

North Mediterranean and Gaza on the agenda

During the Erdogan-Al-Sisi meeting, one of the topics on the agenda is expected to be energy equation in the Eastern Mediterraneanwithout officially clarifying from the Turkish side whether the negotiations with Egypt for the delimitation of maritime zones of jurisdiction are at a mature stage.

In the talks with Cairo Ankara highlights as the most important issue the developments around war in Gaza. Both Ankara and Cairo strongly oppose Israeli operations in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Al-Sisi’s government fears that these will drive thousands of Palestinians to Egypt, and for this reason Cairo has repeatedly stated that an Israeli operation in Rafa constitutes a “red line”.

It will not be a surprise if the Turkish president visits the Rafa border crossing during his stay in Egypt. The two leaders are expected to send messages mainly to promote humanitarian aid through the Rafah gate.

One of the main chapters in the talks between the two presidents is the Libya, where the two countries support opposing civil war forces. Turkey, which supports the government in Tripoli, is now also throwing bridges to eastern Libyan forces based in Benghazi.

“Thorn” for Cairo is the presence in Turkey of members of the Muslim Brotherhood, “mortal enemies” of the Al-Sisi government. When Ankara decided to normalize its relations with Cairo two years ago, it stopped the activity of Muslim Brotherhood members in Turkey.

Another issue is the sale of Turkish drones to Egypt as well as bilateral trade. Turkey is the 6th country for exports and the 3rd for imports of Egypt, with a trade volume of 10 billion dollars.

For Ankara, Erdogan’s visit to Cairo is the culmination of Turkey’s “return” to the Middle Eastafter a long period of tensions with the majority of countries in the region.