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Egypt’s Sisi in Turkey in First Visit for 12 Years as Relations Thaw
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi review a guard of honor during a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, Sept. 4, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Murad Sezer
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi arrived in Ankara on Wednesday for talks with Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan, the first such presidential visit in 12 years, amid a warming of long-frozen relations between the regional powers.
Erdogan had traveled to Cairo in February, his first trip to Egypt since 2012, taking a major step toward rebuilding ties that were severely strained for a decade.
Relations between Ankara and Cairo collapsed in 2013 after Egypt’s then-army chief Sisi led the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi, a Turkish ally who had become Egypt’s first democratically elected president the year before. Mursi visited Turkey as president in 2012.
“Turkey-Egypt relations will be reviewed in all their aspects, and possible joint steps in the coming period to further develop cooperation will be discussed,” the Turkish presidency’s communications office said late on Tuesday.
“There will be an exchange of views on current regional and global issues, especially the Israeli attacks on Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories.”
Erdogan met Sisi at Ankara airport before they left together in Erdogan’s motorcade for the presidential palace for a welcome ceremony. They will also chair the first meeting of the Turkey-Egypt High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council.
A joint press conference is scheduled for 5 pm (1400 GMT).
In a statement, Sisi said his visit — and that of Erdogan in February — showed Ankara and Cairo’s common will to launch a new phase of friendship and cooperation.
Ties between the two countries began thawing in 2020 when Ankara launched a diplomatic charm offensive to ease tensions with its estranged regional rivals, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.
Turkey and Egypt mutually reappointed ambassadors last year, and Ankara has said it would provide Cairo with armed drones. Erdogan said in Cairo that the countries wanted to boost annual trade by $5 billion to $15 billion in the short term.
Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu news agency said the two countries would sign around 20 agreements during Sisi’s visit to cooperate on energy, defense, tourism, health, culture, and education. It said deepening cooperation on renewable energy and liquefied natural gas (LNG) was also planned.
Turkey, which has condemned Israel for its war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza, has sent thousands of tons of aid to Egypt for Palestinians and praised Cairo’s humanitarian efforts and role as negotiator in Gaza truce talks.
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Trump’s Travel Ban on 12 Countries Goes Into Effect Early Monday
US President Donald Trump attends the Saudi-US Investment Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President Donald Trump’s order banning citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States goes into effect at 12:01 am ET (0401 GMT) on Monday, a move the president promulgated to protect the country from “foreign terrorists.”
The countries affected by the latest travel ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
The entry of people from seven other countries – Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela – will be partially restricted.
Trump, a Republican, said the countries subject to the most severe restrictions were determined to harbor a “large-scale presence of terrorists,” fail to cooperate on visa security, have an inability to verify travelers’ identities, as well as inadequate record-keeping of criminal histories and high rates of visa overstays in the United States.
He cited last Sunday’s incident in Boulder, Colorado, in which an Egyptian national tossed a gasoline bomb into a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators as an example of why the new curbs are needed. But Egypt is not part of the travel ban.
The travel ban forms part of Trump’s policy to restrict immigration into the United States and is reminiscent of a similar move in his first term when he barred travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations.
Officials and residents in countries whose citizens will soon be banned expressed dismay and disbelief.
Chad President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said he had instructed his government to stop granting visas to US citizens in response to Trump’s action.
“Chad has neither planes to offer nor billions of dollars to give, but Chad has its dignity and its pride,” he said in a Facebook post, referring to countries such as Qatar, which gifted the U.S. a luxury airplane for Trump’s use and promised to invest billions of dollars in the U.S.
Afghans who worked for the US or US-funded projects and were hoping to resettle in the US expressed fear that the travel ban would force them to return to their country, where they could face reprisal from the Taliban.
Democratic US lawmakers also voiced concern about the policies.
“Trump’s travel ban on citizens from over 12 countries is draconian and unconstitutional,” said US Representative Ro Khanna on social media late on Thursday. “People have a right to seek asylum.”
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Israeli Military Says It Struck Hamas Member in Southern Syria
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
The Israeli military said on Sunday that it struck a member of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in southern Syria’s Mazraat Beit Jin, days after Israel carried out its first airstrikes in the country in nearly a month.
Hamas did not immediately comment on the strike.
Israel said on Tuesday it hit weapons belonging to the government in retaliation for the firing of two projectiles towards Israel for the first time under the country’s new leadership. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz held Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa accountable.
Damascus in response said reports of the shelling were unverified, reiterating that Syria does not pose a threat to any regional party.
A little known group named “Martyr Muhammad Deif Brigades,” an apparent reference to Hamas’ military leader who was killed in an Israeli strike in 2024, reportedly claimed responsibility for the shelling. Reuters, however, could not independently verify the claim.
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Israel Orders Military to Stop Gaza-Bound Yacht Carrying Greta Thunberg
FILE PHOTO: Activist Greta Thunberg sits aboard the aid ship Madleen, which left the Italian port of Catania on June 1 to travel to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, in this picture released on June 2, 2025 on social media. Photo: Freedom Flotilla Coalition/via REUTERS/File Photo
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told the military on Sunday to stop a charity boat carrying activists including Sweden’s Greta Thunberg who are planning to defy an Israeli blockade and reach Gaza.
Operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the British-flagged Madleen yacht set sail from Sicily on June 6 and is currently off the Egyptian coast, heading slowly towards the Gaza Strip, which is besieged by Israel.
“I instructed the IDF to act so that the Madleen .. does not reach Gaza,” Katz said in a statement.
“To the antisemitic Greta and her Hamas-propaganda-spouting friends, I say clearly: You’d better turn back, because you will not reach Gaza.”
Climate activist Thunberg said she joined the Madleen crew to “challenge Israel’s illegal siege and escalating war crimes” in Gaza and highlight the urgent need for humanitarian aid. She has rejected previous Israeli accusations of antisemitism.
Israel went to war with Hamas in October 2023 after the Islamist terrorists launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing more 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to the enclave.
Katz said the blockade was essential to Israel’s national security as it seeks to eliminate Hamas.
“The State of Israel will not allow anyone to break the naval blockade on Gaza, whose primary purpose is to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hamas,” he said.
The Madleen is carrying a symbolic quantity of aid, including rice and baby formula, the FFC has said.
FFC press officer Hay Sha Wiya said on Sunday the boat was currently some 160 nautical miles (296 km) from Gaza. “We are preparing for the possibility of interception,” she said.
Besides Thunberg, there are 11 other crew members aboard, including Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament.
Israeli media have reported that the military plans to intercept the yacht before it reaches Gaza and escort it to the Israeli port of Ashdod. The crew would then be deported.
In 2010, Israeli commandos killed 10 people when they boarded a Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, that was leading a small flotilla towards Gaza.
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