On the second day of an official visit to Egypt, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was received by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in the northern coastal town of El Alamein amid efforts aimed at a reconciliation in bilateral relations, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Fidan’s visit aims to strengthen diplomatic ties between Turkey and Egypt, which have seen significant improvement in recent years, in addition to discussing the preparation for an upcoming visit by el-Sisi to Ankara.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry confirmed the meeting on X on Monday, but neither side disclosed the details.
Fidan’s visit to Egypt, which began on Sunday at the invitation of Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty included stops at the port at al Arish, the Rafah border crossing and the Egyptian Red Crescent logistics center.
He also met with North Sinai Governor Maj. Gen. Khaled Megawer and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
Long freeze in relations
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who once labeled el-Sisi a “murderer, oppressor and putschist” for his role in the 2013 military coup that ousted the Muslim Brotherhood from power, called Sisi “my brother” during his visit to Cairo in February after an 11-year hiatus.
This diplomatic U-turn comes after a decade of strained relations following the coup, which Erdoğan strongly opposed. The coup, which overthrew then-president Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and an ally of Erdoğan, had caused a deep rift between Ankara and Cairo. Erdoğan’s government had strongly supported the Muslim Brotherhood and was often at odds with the Egyptian government’s crackdown on the organization.
Turkey’s rapprochement with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE, countries that regard the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, has occurred in parallel with restrictions on the Islamist group’s freedom of movement and ability to operate in the country. Turkey called on Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated TV stations to limit their critical coverage of el-Sisi and shut down at least one of the stations during Erdoğan’s visit to Jeddah last year.
Turkey refused to renew the residence permits of members or people linked to the group to persuade them to leave the country, reportedly arrested some of the leaders and is considering deporting many others at the request of the Egyptian president, perhaps to a third country.
Ankara has been trying to repair its broken relations with el-Sisi since 2020.
The first signs of a thaw came in May 2021, when a Turkish delegation visited Egypt to discuss possible normalization.
In November 2022 Erdoğan and el-Sisi shook hands in Qatar, which the Egyptian presidency heralded as a new beginning in their relations.
After Turkey was hit by devastating earthquakes in February 2023, the two heads of state spoke on the phone.
The normalization of relations was completed by the mutual appointment of ambassadors in July 2023.