Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed that the crises and serious challenges facing the Middle East today demonstrate the importance of coordination and cooperation between Egypt and Turkey. Erdogan said during a press conference held with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi today after they chaired the signing of a number of memoranda of understanding between the two countries in the capital Ankara: “The contributions of Turkey and Egypt to regional peace and stability are vital,” explaining that Turkey has confirmed its will to enhance cooperation with Egypt in all fields, including industry, trade, defense, health, environment and energy.
Erdogan also stressed Turkey’s determination to increase the volume of trade exchange between the two countries to $15 billion annually over the next 5 years, and to continue multi-dimensional relations with Cairo on the basis of mutual benefit.
Regarding the Palestinian file, Erdogan indicated that Turkey and Egypt adopt a common position on the Pal
estinian issue, noting that “the contributions of Turkey and Egypt to regional peace and stability are vital.”
He stressed that Israel and its supporters are responsible for the death of every innocent civilian in Gaza due to hunger, thirst and lack of medicine, denouncing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech in the US Congress last July, saying: “The place for the killers of 41,000 innocent people (in Gaza) is not the podiums of parliament but courtrooms to hold them accountable for their crimes.”
Erdogan stressed that “Israel continues its obstructive stance towards negotiations, and revealed its mentality by killing its interlocutor,” referring to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of Hamas in the Iranian capital, Tehran, at the end of last July.
For his part, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said during the press conference: What “our region and our world are experiencing today in terms of crises and severe challenges demonstrates the importance of cl
ose coordination and cooperation between Egypt and Turkey.”
El-Sisi expressed his great happiness with his first visit to Turkey and his meeting with President Erdogan, considering that the visit establishes a new phase of cooperation and integration between the two countries.
The Egyptian president praised the “continuous prosperity” in relations between the Egyptian and Turkish peoples over the past years, especially the growing tourism movement. He also pointed to the trade and investment relations between the two countries “which are witnessing steady growth,” in addition to the increase in Turkish investments in Egypt, especially in the field of manufacturing.
He also stressed the two countries’ “sincere” desire to further develop relations and cooperation, and build on the results of President Erdogan’s visit to Egypt last February.
Regarding the results of his visit, El-Sisi said that he and President Erdogan chaired the first meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council between Egypt an
d Turkey in Ankara today, which aims to achieve a “qualitative shift” in all fields, most notably trade, investment, tourism, transportation and agriculture.
He added: “We also witnessed the signing of a number of memoranda of understanding, which aim to establish a new institutional framework for cooperation between our two countries.”
El-Sisi pointed out that during his talks in Ankara today, “the importance of enhancing joint investments between the two countries was emphasized, and providing possible facilities for Turkish businessmen in light of the distinguished investment climate in Egypt, which enabled them to increase the volume of their business and sell their products in Egypt, and export abroad.”
He pointed out that “the importance of facilitating the movement of trade between the two countries was also emphasized, and expanding the scope of the free trade agreement between the two countries with the aim of raising the total annual trade exchange between them to $15 billion in the coming years.
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Regarding the content of his talks in Ankara on regional issues, the Egyptian President stressed that “the crises and severe challenges that our region and world are experiencing today demonstrate the importance of close coordination and cooperation between Egypt and Turkey.”
He explained that he discussed with President Erdogan ways of coordination and working together to contribute to addressing regional crises, most notably “addressing the humanitarian tragedy that our Palestinian brothers in Gaza are facing in an unprecedented disaster that has been going on for nearly a year.”
El-Sisi also spoke about “the unity of Egypt and Turkey’s positions regarding the demand for an immediate ceasefire, the rejection of the current Israeli escalation in the West Bank, and the call to start a path that achieves the aspirations of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state.”
In this context, he referred to the ongoing cooperation between Egypt and Turkey since the beginning of the crisis to “del
iver humanitarian aid to Gaza despite the ongoing obstacles imposed by Israel.”
Regarding the situation in Syria, El-Sisi said: “We affirmed our aspiration to reach a solution to this crisis that has negatively affected the brotherly Syrian people in an unprecedented way.”
The Egyptian president expressed his “welcome to the efforts of rapprochement between Turkey and Syria, as we ultimately aim to achieve a political solution and alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people in accordance with the Security Council resolutions in this regard while preserving the unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the Syrian state and eliminating terrorism.”
Regarding the ongoing war in Sudan between the army and the Rapid Support Forces since mid-April 2023, the Egyptian president said: “During the talks with Erdogan, the crisis in Sudan was reviewed, as well as the efforts made by Egypt in cooperation with various parties to stop the war and give priority to the political solution.”
He pointed out that the d
iscussions also touched on the situation in the Horn of Africa, especially in Somalia, as “we agreed on the necessity of preserving Somalia’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity against the threats it faces.”
Source: National Iraqi News Agency