It was a decade ago that relations between Egypt and Turkey broke down over the Egyptian military’s ousting of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi. On September 4, the man who succeeded the late Morsi in 2014, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, paid his first official visit to Ankara since he was elected president.

In February, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan—who, after the fall of Morsi, permitted self-exiled members of the Brotherhood to take refuge in Turkey and even run affiliated TV channels—paid his first official visit to Cairo since el-Sisi came to power in the military takeover. The fact that el-Sisi has returned the compliment with a visit of his own will help set the seal on efforts to fully restore bilateral relations, which began three or more years ago.

Erdogan, who heads up his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), has long been a supporter of the Islamist Brotherhood, outlawed as a “terrorist” organisation by the el-Sisi regime.

Looking for common ground to bind them during the el-Sisi visit, the two leaders settled on their opposition to Israel’s brutal war on Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, emphasising the need for a permanent cease-fire and guaranteed delivery of enough humanitarian aid. The difficulty with that is that the Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas, emerged in 1987 during the first Palestinian uprising, or First Intifada, as an outgrowth of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestinian branch.

With Turkey mired in a longstanding economic crisis, critics have come to regard 70-year-old Erdogan as particularly motivated to fix relations with Egypt and other Arab nations given the Turks' need for all the trade and investment they can muster in such dire straits. Evolving geopolitical and security challenges have also made a necessity of starting a new era of Turkey-Egypt relations for Erdogan and el-Sisi, who turns 70 in November.

“We will enhance our multifaceted relations in a win-win manner,” Erdogan said during the visit.

“My visit to Turkey paves the way for a new phase in economic and trade relations,” el-Sisi added. “We witnessed an increase in communication between two nations in recent years.”

With Ankara having ceased its criticism of el-Sisi’s government, in November 2022, Erdogan and el-Sisi were photographed shaking hands at the football World Cup in Qatar.

In February 2023, the Egyptian foreign minister travelled to Turkey to show solidarity after catastrophic earthquakes struck parts of southeastern Turkey and northern Syria, killing tens of thousands.

“We should work together to prevent humanitarian crises, especially by addressing regional issues together,” el-Sisi was quoted as saying by the Associated Press during his Turkey visit.

He added: “We should work more intensively, especially with our brothers in Gaza and Palestine. In this context, both Turkey and Egypt emphasised that an urgent cease-fire should be established as soon as possible.”

“Israel and its supporters are responsible for every innocent person who dies from hunger, thirst or lack of medicine,” Erdogan was cited as adding.

In further comments on economic matters, Erdogan told reporters that Turkey wanted to cooperate with Egypt on natural gas and nuclear energy.

El-Sisi wrote on Facebook that his trip to Turkey and Erdogan’s February visit to Cairo “mirror the joint will to start a new era of friendship and cooperation between Egypt and Turkey.”

Reporting from a joint press conference held by Erdogan and el-Sisi, Reuters quoted Erdogan as saying Turkey and Egypt had reaffirmed their will to improve relations in every area, including trade, defence, health, energy and environmental matters.

Al Jazeera reported that 17 agreements, mostly focusing on trade deals, were signed as part of the visit. 

Turkey is Egypt’s fifth-largest trading partner, while Egypt is Turkey’s number one trade partner in Africa.

Egypt Today on September noted an Asharq Bloomberg report in which an Egyptian official told of plans to elevate trade between Egypt and Turkey by 20% to 25% in 2025, aiming for a volume of around $8bn, up from $6.6bn in 2023. A joint goal is also, reportedly, to take annual bilateral trade to $15bn within the next five years.

The media outlet said primary traded goods between the two countries encompass ready-made clothing, fabrics, household appliances, yellow corn, feed, fertilisers, wires, electrical braids, rebar, cars and soybean oil.

With the restoration of ties, Turkey will also be looking to strike deals for the export of defence hardware, including combat drones, to Egypt, analysts say.