Egypt and Turkey plan to upgrade their already growing relations to a "strategic partnership", with total co-operation in making weapons and sharing intelligence, sources have told The National.
The sources spoke before the arrival in Cairo on Wednesday of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He is scheduled to fly from Saudi Arabia where he held talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In Egypt, Mr Erdogan will discuss with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi a plan to make weapons at a military industrial complex to be built on Egypt's Mediterranean coast, the sources said.
The complex would be made with the aid of Turkish drone expertise, a weapon on which Ankara has made significant technological advances, they said. It would also build warships.
"Relations between Egypt and Turkey already are very close, both on bilateral and regional co-operation levels," said one of the sources. "But the two sides will be working towards transforming it into a strategic partnership during Erdogan's visit."
Relations between Egypt and Nato member Turkey, both US allies, have rapidly evolved since the two regional heavyweights ended a decade of tension over Ankara's support for Egypt's Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, who was toppled by the military in 2013 when Mr El Sisi was defence minister.
But the fraught years did not affect the relatively large volume of trade – about $8 billion annually between the two nations. Those ties are expected to grow to about $15 billion annually in the coming years.
Mr Erdogan is scheduled in Egypt to co-chair with Mr El Sisi the second meeting of the High Level Turkey–Egypt Strategic Co-operation Council, according to a statement from the Turkish presidency.
“Bilateral issues will be discussed and views will also be exchanged on regional and international developments, with particular focus on Palestine,” said the statement.
Mr Erdogan is also due to take part in a Turkish–Egyptian business forum during his visit.
During the time of tension between the two countries, they sided with rival factions in Libya, while Cairo accused Ankara of supporting militant groups in the Middle East and meddling in the affairs of Arab nations. It regarded with suspicion Turkey's growing influence in Africa, where Egypt has traditionally exercised the role of big brother and practised soft diplomacy.
Things have dramatically changed now, with Cairo and Ankara siding with the national army in Sudan in its nearly three-year war against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Turkey also helped Egypt to build bridges with the Tripoli-based government in Libya after years of supporting the rival administration in the country's east.
Egypt also seems unperturbed by Turkey's vast influence in Syria after the overthrow 14 months ago of long-time dictator Bashar Al Assad, although it continues to deal cautiously with the new regime in Damascus.
Egypt and Turkey have been sharing intelligence and holding joint war games. They, together with the US and Qatar, mediated the ceasefire that paused the war in Gaza in October.
Indirectly acknowledging the value of ties to Egypt, Turkey has clamped down on critics of Mr El Sisi who have lived in Turkey since the removal of Morsi. It has also shut down TV stations critical of the Egyptian leader and asked senior members of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood to leave the country.
The sources said Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia – who between them wield vast regional influence – have in recent months forged an unofficial alliance to shield the region from further upheavals after the wars in Gaza and Sudan, and Israel's continuing strikes against Lebanon and its perceived attempts to secure a foothold in the strategic Horn of Africa region and on the Red Sea coastline.
