Egypt and Turkey to hold joint naval war games in Mediterranean

Sea drills are sign of expanding ties between two former rivals

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, right have promoted warmer ties in recent years. Reuters

Turkey and Egypt will hold joint naval drills towards the end of September, in a further indication of the two countries' resolve to forge closer relations after a decade of tension.

The war games, running under the theme Friendship Sea, will take place in the eastern Mediterranean Sea from September 22 to 26, the Turkish Defence Ministry said.

They will involve Turkish frigates, fast attack vessels, a submarine and F-16 fighter jets, alongside Egyptian naval units, the ministry added.

Commanders of the two navies are expected to observe drills on September 25, it said. There was no immediate confirmation from the Egyptian military on the naval drills with Turkey.

Relations between Egypt and Turkey – a long-time backer of the Muslim Brotherhood group – soured in 2013 following the removal by the Egyptian military of Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist whose one-year rule as president proved divisive.

The Brotherhood was outlawed later in 2013 and Morsi died in prison in 2019.

Egypt's ambassador to Turkey Amr El Hamami, left, and Turkish envoy to Cairo Salih Mutlu Sen, right. Egypt and Turkey exchanged ambassadors in 2023 after years of stalemate. Getty Images

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El Sisi was defence minister at the time of Morsi's removal. He was elected president in 2014 and has since led the most populous Arab nation.

Egypt and Turkey were at loggerheads for a decade after Morsi was removed. They supported rival sides in Libya's conflict, and Cairo repeatedly accused Ankara of supporting radical groups in the region and meddling in the affairs of Arab nations, notably Syria, Iraq and Sudan.

Egypt had also moved to forge close ties with Greece, Turkey's historical rival, and Cyprus, which has been at odds with Turkey since the latter invaded the island in 1974 after a coup instigated by a Greek military junta.

Relations began to thaw when Cairo and Ankara held a series of midlevel talks on normalising relations. The turning point, however, came in 2022 when the Turkish and Egyptian leaders met on the sidelines of the World Cup in Qatar.

Egypt and Turkey exchanged ambassadors in 2023, and there have been several meetings between Mr El Sisi and President Erdogan since.

The two countries are major trade partners, share intelligence and co-operate on counterterrorism issues. They have both been scathing critics of Israel's war on Gaza. While Egypt, Qatar and the US have been publicly mediating between Israel and Hamas to end the war, Nato member and US ally Turkey has played a behind-the-scenes role to support their efforts.