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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.
The post Egypt’s Sisi in Turkey in First Visit for 12 Years as Relations Thaw first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.