Turkiye, Egypt turn ‘new leaf’ as Erdogan visits Cairo

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in Cairo yesterday that they were turning a "new leaf” in their relations after over a decade of estrangement.The two leaders also criticised Israel’s conduct of the war in the Gaza Strip and called for a ceasefire.Sisi welcomed Erdogan with great fanfare at Cairo airport before the pair signed several agreements. They both called for "a new stage in relations”, an increase in trade to "$15bn per year within a few years” and diplomatic co-operation in the Middle East.Erdogan, an outspoken critic of Israel’s conduct in its war with Gaza’s rulers Hamas, again took aim at the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.The Turkish leader, on his first visit to Egypt in more than 10 years, denounced Netanyahu’s "occupation, destruction and massacres”. Erdogan said the Palestinians were "at the top of our agenda” and that it was "our priority to establish a ceasefire as soon as possible”.Turkiye was "ready to work with Egypt for the recovery and reconstruction of Gaza in the medium term,” he added.For his part, Sisi criticised "Israel’s obstacles which mean that humanitarian aid enters Gaza too slowly”.Egypt controls the Rafah crossing into Gaza, but Israel insists on inspecting every aid shipment.Cairo has been hosting joint efforts with Qatar and the US to broker a new truce between Israel and Hamas. An Israel delegation was in Cairo on Tuesday, while a Hamas delegation was to travel to the Egyptian capital yesterday.Turkiye and Egypt cut ties in 2013.But relations have thawed since 2021, when a Turkish delegation visited Egypt to discuss normalisation.By last July, Cairo and Ankara had appointed ambassadors to each other’s capitals for the first time in a decade.In November 2022, Erdogan and Sisi shook hands in Qatar in what the Egyptian presidency heralded as a new beginning for their relations.