Egypt and Turkey bring closer together on first high-level trip since severing diplomatic relations

In 2013, Ankara and Cairo severed diplomatic ties after the overthrow of the government of Mohammed Morsi, with whom Recep Tayyip Erdogan had good relations. Since the arrival of Abdel Fattah El Sisi, Erdogan has been reluctant to establish ties with Morsi's former army commander-in-chief and Defence Minister. However, the complex context of the two countries makes it necessary to seek a solution that makes a rapprochement possible. And it was the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria that finally put an end to a decade of Egyptian absence on Turkish soil.
 
Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has travelled to the two quake-hit countries to show his country's solidarity and support their respective recovery processes. This is the first time in ten years that a top-level trip by an Egyptian minister to Ottoman territory has taken place. Shoukry expressed the importance for his country of "returning relations to the old level and taking them very far in the interest of both countries," at a press conference alongside his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

Çavuşoğlu has praised the gesture of Egypt, who he says, has shown that "they are friends and brothers of Turkey and the Turkish people in these difficult times". Since 2021, Turks and Egyptians have begun a gradual rapprochement, especially on trade issues. Erdogan's relations with the Muslim Brotherhood have been one of the main barriers to overcome in the normalisation of diplomatic ties, although the Turkish government's tendency is to prioritise rapprochement with Cairo. One of the reasons behind this rapprochement is the weak economic situation in both countries.
 
Inflation, the depreciation of the Turkish lira and the internal crisis have finally pushed Ankara towards an Egypt in even greater need. With inflation higher and the economy dependent on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for help, Cairo sees the possibility of developing mutually beneficial ties with Turkey. This is also the view of the Turkish minister, who assures that both countries are "opening a new page in our relations", adding that "the development of ties between Turkey and Egypt benefits both countries"

In the aftermath of the earthquake, the Egyptians have seen the opportunity to postulate themselves as a partner to Ankara and take the step forward that ties that have been broken for a decade. Çavuşoğlu himself believes that 'friendship and brotherhood become evident in times of difficulty'. And this is where El Sisi's government has acted swiftly to show its support for Turkey. Cairo hopes that this trip will not just be an afterthought in the aftermath of the disaster and will set a real precedent for strengthening ties with Ankara.
 
The earthquake that struck the Turkish-Syrian border, killing more than 48,000 people, has also been devastating in Syria, where the Egyptian minister was also present on another historic trip. No senior Egyptian representative has been there since the war broke out in 2011. It is a further step in the normalisation of relations with Damascus, which many countries in the region are targeting for a possible full return to the Arab League.