Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will arrive on September 4 on his first visit to Turkey, Turkish Haberturk TV reported, quoted by BTA.
The visit follows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's February visit to Egypt – the first visit in twelve years to focus on the situation in Gaza. Ankara is determined to increase contacts with Cairo in the name of peace efforts in the Strip.
Relations between Ankara and Cairo have been strained since in 2013 Sisi, then army chief, ousted then-President Mohamed Morsi from the Muslim Brotherhood, who was an ally of Erdogan.
Last year, Turkey and Egypt upgraded their diplomatic relations, which had been downgraded to chargé d'affaires in 2013, and appointed ambassadors.
In Ankara, Sisi will be welcomed with an official ceremony at the presidential palace Beştepe.
While the main focus of the visit is expected to be Gaza, and in particular the steps that can be taken to secure a ceasefire, relations between the two countries will also be discussed. The two presidents will chair a meeting of the bilateral High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council and agreements are expected to be signed in many areas.
Turkey and Egypt are aiming for the volume of trade between the two countries to reach 15 billion dollars (up from 10 billion now) and the steps to be taken to achieve this goal are expected to be discussed.
In addition to energy, especially the field of liquefied natural gas, renewable energy sources and mining, cooperation in the field of healthcare, tourism and the defense industry will be on the agenda, Habertürk also points out.