President El-Sisi’s Speech at Joint Press Conference with Turkish President Erdoğan

alhadath – cairo

“In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful”

My brother, Your Excellency, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Türkiye,

At the outset, I would like to sincerely thank Your Excellency for your hospitality and warm reception. I am delighted to make my first visit to your friendly country, marking the establishment of a new phase of cooperation and integration between our two countries. To the Turkish people, I say:

From Egypt and its people, I convey to you sentiments filled with cordiality, amity and appreciation as we take pride in the historical relations and the common civilizational and cultural heritage that bring us together.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Over the past years, communication between the Egyptian and Turkish peoples has witnessed continuous progress, especially through the growing flow of tourism, as well as trade and investment, both witnessing steady growth, in addition to the increase in Turkish investments in Egypt, especially in the field of manufacturing.

In light of the sincere interest of the two countries to further develop relations and cooperation and to build on the outcome of the visit of His Excellency President Erdoğan to Egypt last February, today President Erdoğan and I were pleased to chair the first meeting of the high-level Strategic Cooperation Council between Egypt and Türkiye, which aims to bring about a significant leap across all fields, mainly: trade, investment, tourism, transportation, and agriculture. Also, today we witnessed the signing of a number of Memoranda of Understanding that aim to establish a new institutional framework for cooperation between our two countries.

Our discussions also emphasized the importance of facilitating intra-trade and expanding the scope of the free trade agreement between Egypt and Türkiye with the aim of increasing trade to $15 billion in the coming years, in addition to enhancing joint investments between the two countries and granting possible facilitations to the Turkish businessmen, in light of the distinct investment climate in Egypt that enabled them to increase the scope of their business, sell their products in Egypt, and export.

Ladies and gentlemen

The pressing crises and challenges confronting our region and world today demonstrably confirm the imperative of close coordination and cooperation between Egypt and Türkiye. From this standpoint, I discussed with His Excellency President Erdoğan ways to coordinate our efforts to address the regional crises, primarily the dire humanitarian catastrophe endured by our Palestinian brothers in Gaza, in an unprecedented tragedy that has been ongoing for nearly a year. In this regard, I would like to underscore the shared and unified stance of both Egypt and Türkiye regarding the demand for an immediate and urgent ceasefire, rejecting the current Israeli escalation in the West Bank and call for launching a process that shall fulfil the aspirations of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state, along the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of international legitimacy. This is in addition to our constant cooperation since the outbreak of the crisis to deliver humanitarian aid and relief into Gaza, despite the intransigent impediments imposed by Israel.

We have exchanged views on the Libyan crisis and agreed to consult among our institutions in order to achieve security and political stability in Libya. We reiterated the need to close the chapter on this protracted crisis by holding simultaneous presidential and legislative elections, withdrawing illegitimate foreign forces and mercenaries from the country, and ending the phenomenon of armed militias, thus enabling Libya to overcome division and achieve lasting security and stability.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We further discussed the situation in Syria and emphasized our commitment to finding a solution to this crisis which has gravely affected the brotherly Syrian people in an unprecedented manner. We welcome, here, the efforts of rapprochement between Türkiye and Syria, as we ultimately aim to achieve a political solution and alleviate the suffering of the brotherly Syrian people, in line with the UN Security Council resolution on the matter, while maintaining the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian State and eradicating terrorism.

Our talks also touched on the Sudanese crisis and Egypt’s efforts, in collaboration with various parties, to cease fire and promote a political solution. We also had a thorough discussion on the situation in the Horn of Africa, notably Somalia, and agreed on the crucial need to preserve the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia in the face of existing threats.

I would like to confirm that we look forward to continuing the current state of de-escalation in the Eastern Mediterranean and to building upon it to reach a settlement of the existing disputes among the region’s coastal states. This shall enable us to cooperate and leverage the region’s natural resources for the prosperity of all our peoples.

Finally, I would like, once again, to extend gratitude to President Erdoğan for his gracious hospitality and warm reception, and look forward to welcoming His Excellency back to Egypt to further build upon our direct engagement, as we work together for the benefit of our peoples and the region as a whole.

Thank you