In early 2011, the Arab Spring, which began in 2010, brought the 29-year rule of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak to an end. People’s demands for democracy were answered in June 2012 and Egypt went to the polls and elected Mohamed Morsi, the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood, as president. Turkish-Egyptian relations had been rapprochement with Morsi until July 2013, when the military led by Chief of General Staff Abdulfettah El Sisi seized power.

In the following period, relations between Egypt and Türkiye became quite tense after the anti-Sisi protests of the people, what happened to the civilian population in Rabia Square, the “Rabia” sign in Türkiye, and the harsh rhetoric against Sisi. The two countries mutually withdrew their ambassadors and descended to the level of business manager. In the following period, as a result of the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood group in Egypt, some of its members settled in Türkiye.

As such, relations became more strained, while economic relations continued. Meanwhile, Türkiye and Egypt were supporting two opposing forces in the civil war in Libya. While Türkiye and Qatar supported the Tripoli-based forces, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates supported the Tobruk-based Haftar forces.

In the Eastern Mediterranean, which gained importance in both energy and geopolitical terms after the signing of the maritime jurisdiction agreement with Libya in 2019, Türkiye started to show signs of détente with its maritime neighbor Egypt. In August 2020, Greece took a step forward and signed a maritime jurisdiction agreement with Egypt, according to which Egypt accepted the southern border of the Turkish continental shelf. In the same year, Türkiye lifted its veto on Egypt’s participation in NATO meetings.

The first contacts in years took place in 2021, when the foreign ministers of the two countries met, first in Cairo and then in Ankara. The first ministerial-level visit took place in Cairo in June 2022, when Minister of Treasury and Finance Nurettin Nebati traveled to Cairo for the annual meeting of the Islamic Development Bank.

In November of the same year, Turkish President Erdogan and Egyptian President Sisi, who were in Qatar for the opening ceremony of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, met for the first time. The hand-in-hand and smiling pose they struck during this meeting was talked about for a long time. On February 14, 2024, Erdogan visited Egypt for the first time since 2011 and was welcomed with an official ceremony. The two countries signed a joint declaration to resume talks on the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council.

They discussed regional and global issues, as well as defense and trade. In the press release, it was stated that this meeting marked the beginning of a new era for Türkiye and Egypt relations. In addition, President Erdogan stated that “they are ready to work with Egypt for the reconstruction of Gaza in the coming period”, while President Sisi said “Egypt and Türkiye will be able to achieve very good results on Gaza by working hand in hand”. After the meeting, Erdogan invited Sisi to Ankara next April.