President Abdel Fattah El Sisi made his first official visit to Turkey yesterday — and the first for an Egyptian president in 12 years — meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the latest step toward strengthening relations between the former regional rivals.

The itinerary: The long-awaited and much-anticipated visit began with Erdogan welcoming El Sisi personally as he disembarked from his plane in Ankara yesterday, followed by a ride to the Turkish president’s palace for two hours of talks. The two presidents later held a joint presser (watch, runtime: 33:50) where they stressed their desire to expand ties and oversaw the signing of 18 MoUs. El Sisi returned to Egypt the same day.

ON THE DIPLOMATIC FRONT-

The two countries are on the same page on Gaza: At the joint presser, Erdogan said that the countries share a common stance on the Palestinian cause, with El Sisi noting “the unity of Egypt and Turkey’s positions…regarding the demand for an immediate ceasefire and Israel’s current escalation in the West Bank.”

They also discussed developments in Libya, often a sticking point in the past: “We stress that it is important to turn the page on the ongoing crisis through holding presidential and parliamentary elections,” El Sisi said, adding that “illegal foreign forces and mercenaries” need to leave the country, alongside the disbandment of local militias.

ON THE ECONOMIC FRONT-

Boosting bitrade is a top priority: The Turkish president reiterated that the two countries seek to boost trade nearly threefold from USD 5 bn to USD 15 bn over the next five years — giving a timeline to previously announced goal — while El Sisi mentioned the possibility of offering Turkish businesses facilitations to increase the volume of their business.

And the two countries are planning to jump into action straight away: The two sides plan to boost the volume of trade between them to USD 8 bn next year, up from last year’s USD 6.6 bn, a government official told Asharq Business.

We’re waiting to find out the details of a flurry of MoUs signed between the countries yesterday: The countries signed 18 MoUs seeking to deepen cooperation between the two countries concerning transport, energy, defense, education, tourism, health, culture, agriculture and finance. In the presser, Erdogan also made specific reference to Turkey being interested in deepening natural gas and nuclear energy cooperation.

We’ll have another opportunity to expand business ties later this month when a delegation of Egyptian businessmen will be heading to Turkey to discuss ways to boost trade and investments between the two sides, Executive Director of the Egyptian Businessmen Association Mohamed Youssef told Al Arabiya.

A LONG TIME COMING-

The trip is a major milestone: The visit, which follows Erdogan’s trip to Cairo in February, is a landmark moment for the two erstwhile antagonists, which once clashed on issues ranging from support for the Muslim Brotherhood to competing interests in Libya and disputes in the eastern Mediterranean.

Since 2020, Ankara has been on a diplomatic offensive to ease relations with Egypt, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, ultimately culminating in the reappointment of ambassadors between Cairo and Ankara in July 2023. Speaking to Yahduth Fi Masr’s Sherif Amr on Tuesday, Turkey’s ambassador to Egypt Salih Mutlu Sen called El Sisi’s first visit to Ankara as president “historic and of special significance,” adding that his country is “seeking to reconcile with Egypt after a period of stagnation” in relations.

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