Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

are bound by strong religious, cultural and historical ties, but diplomatic ties between the two have remained extremely friendly at times and extremely strained at others. For three centuries, Egypt was part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, whose capital was

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

in modern-day Turkey, despite governor of Egypt,

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

, waging

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

against the Ottoman sultan,

Mahmud II Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...

, in 1831. Prior to that both modern-day Egypt & Turkey were part of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

which covered the territories of both modern-day states. Turkey established diplomatic relations with Egypt in 1925 at the level of charge d' affaires and upgraded its mission in Cairo to ambassadorial level in 1948. Both countries have embassies and consulate generals in each other's capitals. Both countries signed a free trade agreement in December 2005. Both countries are full members of the

Union for the Mediterranean The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM; , ''Al-Ittiḥād min ajl al-Mutawasseṭ'') is an intergovernmental organization of 43 member states from Europe and the Mediterranean Basin: the 27 Member state of the European Union, EU member states (i ...

. A natural gas deal between Egypt and Turkey—the largest joint Egyptian-Turkish project to date, estimated to cost $4 billion—is being implemented. On 16 April 2008, Egypt and Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding to improve and further military relations and cooperation between the two countries. Relations however have been quite tense on many occasions in the history of both countries including the Nasser era in Egypt in the 1950s and 1960s. It has also strongly deteriorated in the period following the overthrow of the Egyptian president

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa Al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012anti-government protests that took place between 30 June and 3 July that year. On 23 November 2013, the Egyptian government expelled the Turkish ambassador in Cairo after a months-long diplomatic crisis. In 2021, both countries started having talks about normalizing ties.

Diplomatic relations

Relations under Mohamed Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser

Following the military coup by the Free Officers Movement led by

Mohamed Naguib Major General Mohamed Bey Naguib Youssef Qutb El-Qashlan (; 19 February 1901 – 28 August 1984), known simply as Mohamed Naguib (, ), was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who, along with Gamal Abdel Nasser, was one of the two prin ...

in 1952 the relations of the Egypt and Turkey deteriorated. On 4 January 1954 the ambassador of Turkey to Cairo, Hulusi Fuat Tugay, was asked to leave country due to his alleged activities against the Egyptian government. Tugay's wife was the second cousin of King Farouk who had been removed from office through the 1952 coup. The envoy of Egypt in Turkey, Ahmed Hakkı, was also recalled by the Egyptian government. In the midst of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

and during the rule of Egyptian President

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...

, relations between both countries also soured dramatically due to Turkey's membership in the British-led

Baghdad Pact The Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), formerly known as the Middle East Treaty Organization (METO) and also known as the Baghdad Pact, was a military alliance of the Cold War. It was formed on 24 February 1955 by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, ...

, which Nasser viewed as a major threat to his efforts to eliminate Western presence in the Arab world, and because of the growing influence of Nasser's Pan-Arab ideology, called

Nasserism Nasserism ( ) is an Arab nationalism, Arab nationalist and Arab socialism, Arab socialist List of political ideologies, political ideology based on the thinking of Gamal Abdel Nasser, one of the two principal leaders of the Egyptian Revolution ...

. In addition, Turkey was the first Muslim majority country to recognize the

State of Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, Egypt's archrival at the time, showing even more its clear alignment to the West. In 1958, Egypt entered a brief union with

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, Turkey's southern neighbor with whom it shared longtime diplomatic and border disputes, causing severe tensions between the two countries with Turkey responding by its engagement in a secret "peripheral alliance" with Israel. The tensions reached their peak in 1957 prior to the unification with Syria when Nasser, fearful of a Baghdad Pact toppling of the Syrian government, sent a contingent force to assist Syrian forces that was dispatched near the Syrian-Turkish border as a response to a Turkish threat of incursion when a huge number of troops amassed along the border. This near-confrontation between Egyptian and Turkish troops marked a dark spot in both countries' relations and eventually led to both sides withdrawing, ending the possible escalation of the crisis.

Relations under post-2011 Egyptian revolution

Turkish Prime Minister

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

made his first three days official visit to

on 12 September 2011, and was accompanied by six ministers and approximately 200 businessmen. This visit was considered a diplomatic success and was met with much enthusiasm by Egyptians.

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

reported some Egyptians saying "We consider him as the Islamic leader in the Middle East", while others were appreciative of his role in supporting Gaza. Erdogan was later honored in

Tahrir Square Tahrir Square (, ; ), also known as Martyr Square, is a public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political demonstrations. The 2011 Egyptian revolution and the resignation of President of Egypt, ...

by members of the Egyptian Revolution Youth Union, and members of the Turkish embassy were presented with a coat of arms in acknowledgment of the Prime Minister's support of the

Egyptian Revolution of 2011 The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January Revolution (;), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police holiday" as a statement against ...

. A week after he left, Turkish Foreign Minister,

Ahmet Davutoğlu Ahmet Davutoğlu (; born 26 February 1959) is a Turkish academic, politician and former diplomat who served as the List of Prime Ministers of Turkey, 26th Prime Minister of Turkey and Leader of the Justice and Development Party (Turkey), Justice ...

proclaimed his vision of a strategic alliance between Egypt and Turkey which he described as an "Axis of Democracy". However, some voiced concerns that the Egyptian revolution was not fulfilled and that Erdogan was seeking his own country's strategic interests. It was feared that by forming an alliance with the SCAF interim government in Egypt during the country's transition to democracy, Erdogan may have tipped the balance in favor of those that stand between the Egyptians and their freedom.

Relations following the removal of Mohamed Morsi from office

Following the anti-government protests in the middle of 2013 that led to the overthrow of Egyptian

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa Al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012Justice and Development Party (AKP), signs of strained relations rose between the newly appointed interim government of Egypt and

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

in Turkey, mainly due to Erdoğan's pro-Brotherhood views, culminating with the August 2013 sit-in raids in Rabaa and Nahda by security forces, where sit-ins organized by the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...

were dispersed, leading to clashes that resulted in 638 deaths, of which 43 were police officers. The incident resulted in both countries recalling their respective ambassadors and was met with several verbal assaults by Erdoğan, who described the event as "anti-democratic" and referred to it as a "massacre," while suggesting that Egypt's leaders should be put under a "fair and transparent trial." This was followed by a suspension of military exercises involving the two countries. Erdoğan also accused the Egyptian military of conspiring with

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

to topple Morsi's government at an expanded meeting of the provincial chairs of his ruling AKP and claimed to possess "proof" for that: "This is what has been implemented in Egypt. Who is behind this? Israel. We have evidence". The claim was rejected by the Egyptian interim government, describing it as "baseless" and intended to "strike at the unity of Egyptians," with presidential spokesperson Ahmed Muslimani saying that "agents of the West should not give lessons in patriotism". In response to Erdoğan's statements, Egypt's interim president, Adly Mansour announced on his

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account on 17 August that Egypt would to sign the international document recognizing the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

: In addition, dozens of Egyptian articles have been published condemning Turkey's denial of the Armenian genocide and urging the country's new leaders to recognize it. There have also been calls to erect a memorial monument commemorating the victims of the genocide in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. On 23 November 2013, the Egyptian government expelled the Turkish ambassador to the country, Huseyin Avni Botsali, and recalled their ambassador from

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

indefinitely after several months of tensions with Turkey's ruling AKP-led government. In response, Turkey also barred the Egyptian ambassador, who was out of the country at the time, and declared him a ''

persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (PNG) is a foreign diplomat that is asked by the host country to be recalled to their home country. If the person is not recalled as requested, the host state may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the diplo ...

''. The declaration came a day after Turkish PM

repeated his criticism of Egypt's interim government and his call for the urgent release of former Egyptian President

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa Al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012 Badr Abdelatty Badr Ahmed Mohamed Abdelatty (; born 8 February 1966) is an Egyptian diplomat and politician serving as minister of foreign affairs since 2024. Career Abdelatty, born in Asyut Governorate, earned a BA in Political Science in 1987. He went on to ...

accused Erdoğan of meddling in the country's internal affairs by raising public opinion against the Egyptian government and supporting proscribed organizations that are bent on destabilizing the nation.

Relations under Abdel Fattah al-Sisi

In July 2014, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry warned that relations would worsen since Erdoğan called Sisi a "tyrant". This comes after Prime Minister

slammed Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as an "illegitimate tyrant", saying that Egypt could not be relied upon to negotiate a truce with Israel during Operation Protective Edge. "Is Sisi a party (to a ceasefire)? Sisi is a tyrant himself," Erdogan told reporters. "He is not different from the others," he said, adding that it was Egypt's current rulers who were blocking humanitarian aid channels to the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

ruled by the

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

Islamist militant group. Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Erdogan's comments were "unacceptable". Due to Turkey's interference in Egypt's domestic affairs, the Egyptian foreign ministry also canceled joint naval drills with Turkey. In September 2014, Egypt's foreign minister cancelled a meeting with Turkish president Erdoğan requested by Turkey after Erdoğan made a speech critical of Egypt in the UN General Assembly. An advisor to the Turkish president has denied that the countries' leaders were planning to meet. However, later Egypt's foreign ministry handed out a scanned document of Turkey's meeting proposal to the media and was published by Egypt's Youm7 newspaper. Sisi's administration also decided to cancel the "Ro-Ro" agreement with Turkey, blocking Turkey from transporting Turkish containers to the Gulf via Egyptian ports. An intense campaign started by Egypt and Saudi Arabia against Turkey made it lose its predicted easy victory of membership in the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

. Following the

2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt In the evening of 15 July 2016, a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces, organized as the Peace at Home Council, attempted a coup d'état against state institutions, including the government and president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They attempted ...

, President

gave an interview with

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

explaining that "President al-Sisi has nothing to do with democracy, and that he’s killed thousands of his own people." The remarks were condemned by Egypt's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid saying that the Turkish president "keeps confusing matter and is losing the ability to make sound judgments" and that this reflects "the difficult circumstances the Turkish president has been through. "He cannot differentiate between an evident revolution where more than 30 million Egyptians demanded the support of the Egyptian military and between military coups as we know them," the statement explained. On 22 November 2017, Egypt's public prosecutor has ordered the detention of 29 people suspected of espionage on behalf of Turkey against Egypt national interest and joining a terrorist organization. They are also accused of money laundering, conducting overseas calls without a license and trading currency without a license. According to the results of an investigation by the General Intelligence Services, the group has been recording phone calls and passing information to Turkish intelligence as part of a plan to bring the

back to power in Egypt. Following the executions of 9 people convicted of killing Hisham Barakat in February 2019, President Erdogan sharply criticized President al-Sisi, saying he refused to talk to "someone like him." In June 2019, former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi died during a court hearing. Erdogan blamed the Egyptian leadership for Morsi's death and called him a martyr.

Proposal to recognize the Armenian genocide

Due to the ongoing deterioration of relations between Egypt and Turkey, the Government of Egypt led by el-Sisi, has been receiving proposals to recognize the

, a sensitive subject that Turkey has denounced more than once. Filmmaker Mohamed Hanafi had produced a movie, "Who Killed the Armenians?", in response to the ongoing tensions between Turkey and Egypt, as an act of Egyptian solidarity to Armenia. In February 2019,

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil El-Sisi (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has been serving as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. After the 2011 Egyptian revolution and 201 ...

announced it had implicitly recognized the Armenian Genocide, further deteriorating the relationship between Turkey and Egypt.

Proposal to grant asylum to Fethullah Gülen

MP Emad Mahrous called on the Egyptian government to grant asylum to

Fethullah Gülen Muhammed Fethullah Gülen (27 April 1941 – 20 October 2024) was a Turkish Ulama, Muslim scholar, preacher, and leader of the Gülen movement who as of 2016 had millions of followers. Gülen was an influential Neo-Ottomanism, neo-Ottomanist, A ...

. In the request, sent to Speaker of the House of Representatives Ali Abdel Aal, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on 24 July 2016, Mahrous notes that " urkeywas a moderate Muslim country that has become an Islamist dictatorship at the hands of urkish presidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan and his affiliated

political party", arguing that it was "highly distasteful" that Erdoğan has requested Gülen's extradition from the United States while at the same time "... giving shelter to hundreds of leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organisation and members of other bloody militant Islamist groups which attack Egypt by day and night". Mahrous argues that not only has Erdoğan accused Gülen of plotting the failed coup, Erdoğan has also used this allegation as an excuse to engage in mass purges against public institutions allegedly loyal to Gülen. "(Simultaneously), Erdogan has decided to turn Turkey-Egypt relations into a media battleground, with Turkish intelligence providing funds for several Muslim Brotherhood TV channels that target Egypt". Mahrous stated that his advice to Gülen is to not wait until his extradition, but instead leave the US and obtain permanent asylum in Egypt. Former Egyptian President

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...

granted asylum to Shah

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last List of monarchs of Iran, Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the ...

after arriving the Egypt from the US, regardless of all the threats that were issued by Iran's ayatollahs during the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

Cultural relations

Both the government of Egyptian and Turkish governments decided to focus and co-operate the common cultural heritage of the two countries.

Relations in early 2020s

In early 2020, the Egyptian military practices military drills in the Middle East as a show of force to Turkey according to Xinhuanet News. "It's he military exercisesa message to the Turkish side to realize the capabilities of Egyptian army on battle ground," said Tariq Fahmy, a professor of international relations at Cairo University. In addition, the Egyptian naval forces conducted a large-scale amphibious exercise in the Mediterranean Sea amidst escalating tensions in the region after Turkey's parliament agreed to send military troops to Libya aimed at shoring up the UN-recognized government in Tripoli. Egypt's naval forces conducted activities in the Mediterranean Sea aimed at imposing maritime control on the country's economic zone and securing vital targets in deep water, according to a statement by the armed forces. In March 2021, Turkey claimed said that they have resumed their diplomatic contacts with Egypt (at the level of intelligence and foreign ministries) after breaking off relations since 2013. However, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry denied these claims by the Turkish Government that there has been a restoration of ties. In the meantime, Turkey had ordered Muslim Brotherhood affiliated TV channels to halt criticisms against Egypt. On 14 February 2024, President Erdoğan visited Egypt for the first time in 12 years and was welcomed by President al-Sisi, in which the pair signed several agreements. On September of 2024, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi visited Turkey, improving the ties between the two countries. They signed several agreements and held talks about the war in the Gaza strip.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Egypt has an embassy in

and a consulate-general in

. * Turkey has an embassy in

and a consulate-general in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

Bibliography

* * *