STORY: Türkiye, Egypt vow to strengthen ties after years-long rift
SHOOTING TIME: Sept. 4, 2024
DATELINE: Sept. 5, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:29
LOCATION: Ankara
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the bilateral meeting of Erdogan and al-Sisi in Ankara (courtesy of Turkish Presidency)
2. various of the joint press conference and agreement signing ceremony (courtesy of ihlas news agency)
3. SOUNDBITE (Turkish): RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, Turkish President (courtesy of ihlas news agency)
4. various of Erdogan welcoming al-Sisi at the Esenboga Airport in Ankara (courtesy of Turkish Presidency)

STORYLINE:

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, vowed on Wednesday to enhance bilateral relations. It was the first visit by an Egyptian president to Türkiye in 12 years.

During Sisi's visit, the two leaders co-chaired a high-level strategic cooperation council at which Egyptian and Turkish ministers signed a series of agreements.

SOUNDBITE (Turkish): RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, Turkish President
"We will carry forward our multidimensional relations with Egypt with a win-win approach. We are moving steadily towards our goal of increasing our trade volume to 15 billion (U.S.) dollars in the next five years."

Erdogan said that the two leaders affirmed their willingness to improve relations in various areas including trade, defense, and health, as well as in the sectors of natural gas and nuclear energy.

Emphasizing Türkiye's and Egypt's contributions to regional peace and stability, Erdogan said that the two sides had agreed to conduct regular consultations on regional issues.

Sisi, for his part, said that his first visit to Türkiye would pave the way for "a new phase" of cooperation and integration between the two countries.

"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," the Egyptian president said.

The two leaders had also agreed to work to prevent the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, al-Sisi added.

Sisi's visit comes on the heels of Erdogan's trip to Cairo in February. These visits signal a thaw in bilateral ties after years of hostility.

Relations between Türkiye and Egypt soured after the ouster of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 and the subsequent banning of his Türkiye-backed Muslim Brotherhood group. This turn of events led both countries to expel each other's ambassadors.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Ankara.
(XHTV)