In 2013, Ankara and Cairo cut ties after al-Sisi, then defense minister, ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, an ally of Turkey and part of the Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Erdogan said at the time he would never speak to “anyone” like al-Sisi, who in 2014 became president of the Arab world’s most populous nation.

But relations between the two men have warmed over the past two years, their interests aligning on several issues, including the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.