Erdogan Visits Cairo Amid Thaw

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in the Egyptian capital on his first visit since 2012, sealing a thaw in ties between the regional heavyweights.

Erdogan was welcomed at Cairo airport by his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the two men exchanged a handshake on the tarmac, live footage of his arrival showed.

Erdogan, an outspoken critic of Israel's conduct of the Gaza war, said that he would discuss with Sisi efforts to halt the bloodshed.

Egypt has been hosting joint efforts with Qatar and the United States to broker a new truce between Israel and Hamas.

Egypt and Turkey cut ties in 2013 after Sisi, then Egypt's defense minister, ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, an ally of Turkey and part of the Muslim Brotherhood movement.

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.

According to Egyptian central bank figures, Turkey is Egypt's fifth largest trade partner.

Earlier this month, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said an agreement had been finalized to provide drones to Egypt.

While the two regional powers have often been at odds -- including supporting rival governments in Libya -- their interests are aligned on two major conflicts: Sudan and Gaza.

Erdogan said his meetings in Egypt, as well as the United Arab Emirates, would "look at what more can be done for our brothers in Gaza".

"As Turkey, we continue to make every effort to stop the bloodshed," he told a news conference.

Istanbul served as a base for Hamas political leaders before the October 7 attack. The NATO member asked the Hamas chiefs to leave after some were captured on video celebrating the unprecedented attack.