Egypt and Turkey, two of the Middle East's largest powers, were at each other's throats for more than a decade before they made up and restored full diplomatic relations three years ago.
Now, the popular Arabic proverb “real love comes after animosity” seems to aptly sum up the close relations binding the two Muslim nations on opposite sides of the Mediterranean.
That their love is deep and true appears beyond doubt.
Leaders and top officials from the two nations meet with unusually high frequency and invariably follow their talks with pronouncements that speak of strategic relations and co-operation.
Joint war games with code names such as Anatolian Star and Sea of Friendship are even more frequent, bringing together their navies, special forces and air forces in shows of military might and partnership.
The pair are also deepening their co-operation in arms manufacturing, with Egypt acquiring Turkish drone technology while Ankara benefits from reliable Egyptian fighting vehicles and air defence systems.
Ensuring that they do not compete for the same markets, the two countries co-ordinate exports of their locally manufactured weapons in Africa and parts of the Arab world.
“Egypt and Turkey share a strong legacy that's founded on historic and deep cultural bonds,” Turkish defence ministry spokesman Zeki Akturk told reporters in Ankara on Thursday.
Alluding to a memorandum of defence co-operation signed this week during a visit to Ankara by the Egyptian Defence Minister, he said: “It reflects the strong desire by the two countries to deepen their relations on the basis of mutual trust and common interests.”
Gen Ashraf Salem Zaher's July 13 visit was his first foreign trip since his appointment in February, underlining Cairo's profound interest in enhancing military ties with Turkey.
“It's in reality the quintessential relation that can fairly be labelled as vital and strategic,” said Egyptian strategic and military analyst Samir Ragheb.
“They manage their differences on some issues, instead of escalations, threats and red lines. And, importantly, they constitute a barrier in the face of Israel that prevents it from expanding its influence in some parts of the region,” said Mr Ragheb, a retired army general who is familiar with the government's thinking.
Cairo is also showing significant patience towards Ankara as the latter considers Egyptian requests for the extradition of Islamists wanted in Egypt in terrorism-related cases.
It is all a far cry from the days, not long ago, when Cairo and Ankara were embroiled in a bitter dispute sparked by the removal in Egypt of Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist president who enjoyed Turkey's backing.
His removal from power in 2013 was led by then defence minister Abdel Fattah El Sisi, now Egypt's president of 12 years.
In the decade that followed Mr Morsi's downfall, Egypt's pro-government media attacked Turkey and its president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on a daily basis, using venomous language and making derogatory plays on his last name. The two countries came close to war in 2020 over Libya, where they supported rival camps in its enduring political crisis.
The Turkish leader has tirelessly criticised Mr Morsi's ousting and dismissed Mr El Sisi and his regime as a military dictatorship.
That animosity, which did not touch the relatively high volume of trade between the two countries, has vanished and the pair seem to be on the cusp of a formal alliance that brings together the only Muslim-majority member of Nato and the most populous Arab nation.
But that does not mean the two countries are on the same page when it comes to some regional issues.
Egypt, for example, does not condone Turkey's influence and military presence in Syria, a fellow Arab nation bound to Egypt by traditionally close ties. Egypt also disapproves of Turkey's military presence in Libya, its western neighbour. It insists that the withdrawal of all foreign forces there is essential to ending political divisions in the oil-rich North African nation.
But the two powers agree on what must be done for Somalia, a strategic Horn of Africa nation that has been courted by both Turkey and Egypt, with the pair providing Mogadishu with military training.
Egypt also keeps a military contingent estimated at around 10,000 men in Somalia with a mandate to train local security forces, aid the country's counter-terrorism efforts and serve as the nucleus of a proposed African Union peacekeeping force.
They agree that Somalia's territorial integrity must be safeguarded and that no recognition should be accorded to the breakaway region of Somaliland, where Ethiopia, locked in a long-running water dispute with Egypt, and Israel are seen to be trying to gain a foothold on the Red Sea coast.
Cairo and Ankara also support the armed forces against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Sudan's three-year-old civil war, believing that state institutions, like the military, must be protected to prevent that Afro-Arab nation from disintegrating or falling into endless chaos.
Egypt and Turkey have also pooled their resources to mediate the ceasefire that paused the war in Gaza last October. They have also, with Qatar and Pakistan in the lead, participated in the mediation that ended the US war in Iran and is now striving to end the latest hostilities between the two foes.
“The co-operation between the intelligence in Turkey and Egypt is way ahead of all other fields,” said a source in Cairo with direct knowledge of the nuances of ties between them. “It's like the two nations have been allies for decades or longer.”
Both Turkey and Egypt have diplomatic relations with Israel. Turkey was among the first wave of nations to recognise Israel upon its creation in 1948, while Egypt in 1979 became the first Arab nation to sign a peace treaty with Israel. But both nations are now among the most virulent critics of Israel's use of its military might to dominate the region.
The growing military capabilities of Turkey and Egypt have prompted extremist right-wing politicians in Israel to repeatedly warn that the pair are poised to be their country's future war adversaries.
“Israel does not express existential fears when it comes to Turkey and Egypt, but rather future fears. Neither one will go to war against Israel, but the two have quietly stymied Israeli plans in a number of places in the region,” said Mr Ragheb.
“Israel fears Turkey more than Egypt because of its presence in neighbouring Syria, where the Israelis are expanding their footprint, and in Iraq, which is not far from its borders.”
