Turkey and Egypt launch joint drills

Turkey and Egypt are conducting associated aerial and naval drills successful the Eastern Mediterranean, signaling Ankara’s steady propulsion to reshape relations with Cairo aft years of tension.

The exercises people the archetypal Turkish-Egyptian subject practice successful 13 years. The Turkish Defense Ministry said the special naval operations workout will impact Turkish frigates Oruc Reis and Gediz, patrol vessels Imbat and Bora, the submarine Gur, two F-16 combatant jets, and Egyptian navy units.

Naval commanders from some countries are expected to be a Distinguished Visitors Day connected September 25. Analysts accidental governmental and concern ties betwixt Ankara and Cairo person been improving since 2023, present extending into defence cooperation.

Last September, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi visited Ankara, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted him with afloat honors. Reports besides suggested Turkey had softly handed implicit members of the Muslim Brotherhood, erstwhile a large source of friction.

Greece and Egypt, with Cyprus, person held their ain yearly “Medusa” drills since 2015, usually betwixt Alexandria and Crete.

While the Turkish-Egyptian rapprochement is seen arsenic a situation for Athens, observers enactment it besides reflects shifting alliances amid Israel’s ongoing subject mobilization.

Meanwhile, speculation astir Turkey’s Russian-made S-400 rocket systems resurfaced. Turkish officials dismissed reports of their transfer abroad, stressing: “The S-400 aerial defence systems stay successful our stockpiles. There is nary alteration successful our position.”