What Türkiye and Egypt's growing ties mean for the region
Defence cooperation, Gaza diplomacy, and expanding trade have ushered in what some describe as a “golden era” in Türkiye–Egypt relations — with implications far beyond bilateral ties.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent visits to Saudi Arabia and Egypt signal more than a routine diplomatic tour, reflecting a broader regional recalibration driven by the fallout from the Gaza war and shifting security anxieties.
Ankara’s renewed engagement with key Arab powers underscores a growing convergence of interests, particularly with Cairo, as fears over regional instability, forced displacement and threats to strategic corridors like the Suez Canal push former rivals toward pragmatic cooperation. analysts say.
“This is a golden period in Türkiye–Egypt relations,” international relations Professor Ozden Zeynep Oktav from Istanbul Medeniyet University, tells TRT World.
She describes the transformation as rooted in shifting regional calculations rather than symbolism alone, adding that the primary driver is security.
Following the Gaza conflict, Egypt’s national interests faced increasing pressure.
Oktav argues that Israeli policies intensified concerns in Cairo about the forced displacement of Palestinians towards Egyptian territory and about threats that could destabilise the Suez Canal — one of Egypt’s most vital sources of revenue.
“In this context, Egypt saw that it had to cooperate with Türkiye on Gaza,” she says, emphasising that the rapprochement was driven by necessity.
Over time, Ankara and Cairo maintained measured ties with the United States while simultaneously developing, as Oktav describes, a shared perception of a regional threat.
A highly visible signal of that convergence came with the Türkiye–Egypt “Friendship at Sea” naval exercise held from September 22 to 26, 2025 — a step Oktav cites as evidence of growing defence coordination.
Both countries, she notes, were also members of the Gaza peace mechanism, underscoring their aligned diplomatic engagement.
Beyond bilateralism
Yet security concerns alone did not define the relationship’s evolution.
Associate Professor Suay Nilhan Acikalin from Haci Bayram Veli University in Ankara describes the past two years as a transition “from normalisation to deepening”.
“Over the past two years, Türkiye–Egypt relations have come to represent a model that began with normalisation and subsequently deepened in substance and scope,” she tells TRT World, suggesting the process unfolded deliberately and across multiple layers.
International relations expert Acikalin suggests analysing the rapprochement through two perspectives: bilateral and multilateral.
Regarding bilateral aspects, she emphasises that Türkiye and Egypt are “two of the most important countries in the Islamic world,” linked by population size, historical geography, and lasting cultural ties.
Within this renewed framework, agreements have been signed in key sectors — most notably defence industry cooperation and energy.
But she argues that the relationship’s significance extended into multilateral diplomacy.
“The most important item on the agenda has naturally been Gaza,” Acikalin says.
Humanitarian aid, ceasefire sustainability and diplomatic coordination had required structured collaboration.
She points to platforms such as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and broader African partnerships as arenas where Ankara and Cairo, acting together after years of estrangement, carried notable weight.
“Türkiye and Egypt acting in concert after many years is quite valuable for the region,” she says.
For both experts, economic ambition formed the second pillar of this alignment.
Professor Oktav emphasises that Ankara and Cairo demonstrated resolve to boost trade volume amid growing unpredictability in the Middle East.
“For Türkiye, Egypt is a gateway to the Arab world — a pivotal country,” she says. For Egypt, Türkiye represents “a stable and profitable partner in defence industry cooperation.”
In Oktav’s assessment, Egypt’s need for collaboration with Türkiye on Gaza had become particularly pronounced. Alongside Qatar and Saudi Arabia, she argues, the two countries stood out as leading actors capable of influencing the crisis's trajectory.
The diplomatic recalibration also unfolded amid uncertainty about whether tensions between Iran and the United States would escalate or stabilise.
After two decades marked by wars, proxy struggles and weakened state structures, regional leaders appeared increasingly wary of external entanglements.
Both analysts frame the rapprochement as part of a broader regional recalibration.
Defence exercises signalled institutional trust-building. Economic agreements strengthened resilience. Multilateral coordination reflected pragmatic alignment.
What emerged was not just a restoration of ties, but a convergence driven by shared vulnerability and shared opportunities.
In a Middle East long characterised by fragmentation, the increasing alignment between Egypt and Türkiye indicated that regional powers aimed to develop a more complementary security architecture, one less reliant on external actors and more rooted in their own strategic considerations.
“Such coordinated engagement, particularly at this juncture, should be regarded as both timely and consequential for the broader Middle East,” Acikalin says.