Overview of factors that led up to Turkish president's visit to Egypt

CAIRO – 14 February 2024: The change in regional and international geopolitical conditions have paved the way for the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Egypt after months of restoring diplomatic relations, which had followed years of boycott.

The ideological aspect is no longer the same as Turkey began to accept that supporting governments formed by the Muslim Brotherhood group - outlawed in Egypt – had been to no avail as such regimes also collapsed in Morocco and Tunisia. As a consequence, Turkey returned to pragmatism in its foreign policy, which is necessary to build upon common interests and disregard differences.

Being in his third term as president, it is the last chance for Erdogan to maintain what he had achieved in terms of reinforcing his country's strategic status regionally and globally. That orientation is being pushed forward by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who had served as intelligence chief and who was able to end the state of stillness in bilateral relations.

That is an implementation of Mostafa Kemal Ataturk's policy of "Internal Peace is Global Peace," which means that accomplishing peace, stability and development locally would be achieved through peaceful relations with other countries.

In that context, Turkey shifted back to the policy of not having any hostilities with other countries in order to fulfill its political, economic and strategic interests. That decision comes in light of the transformation of the global scene as the Russia-Ukraine War is starting its third year and the U.S.-China competition is influencing the Middle East. As a result, the region's states became in need to coordinate their stances to ensure a good position that guarantees their security, political, and economic interests.

Moreover, the region has turned into a hotbed of conflicts as the Gaza War is starting its fifth month, tensions erupted southern Lebanon, Houthis are jeopardizing the security of navigation in the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, Iran-backed militias target U.S. troops in Syria and Iraq, normalization between Israel and Gulf states is getting crippled, and the U.S. military involvement increased, which requires more coordination.

Egypt equally eyes boosting trade exchange between the two countries to $20 billion up from the $7.7 billion recorded in 2023. Given that Egypt exempted Turkish citizens from the visa, it contemplates a rise in the flow of Turkish investments as well as tourists whose number increased fivefold since the exemption began in April 2023.