President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi discussed bilateral relations and regional and global developments as they met on the sidelines of the D-8 Summit in Cairo on Thursday, the Presidential Communications Directorate said.
In their meeting, Erdoğan highlighted the importance of a permanent and sustainable cease-fire in Gaza, and that solidarity between Türkiye and Egypt would contribute to the uninterrupted delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid to the blockaded Palestinian enclave.
“Erdoğan stated in the meeting that Türkiye will continue to develop cooperation with Egypt, which has historical and cultural ties, in many areas, including defense industry, energy, transportation, and development, and will strive to achieve the goal of a mutual trade volume of 15 billion dollars,” the directorate said.
Erdoğan also said that the Syrian people have paid a great price for 13 years and that they will decide their future. He noted that Türkiye would continue to support the reconstruction of Syria and the establishment of internal reconciliation.
Meanwhile, Erdoğan also met with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian.
No further details were provided.
The D-8 summit, titled “Investing in Youth and Supporting SMEs: Shaping Tomorrow’s Economy,” kicked off in Cairo on Thursday.
The D-8 group was established in Istanbul in 1997 to strengthen economic and social relations among its member states – Türkiye, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Iran, and Malaysia. Azerbaijan also joined the group on Thursday.