07/09/2011 16:00
Turkey to sign military pact with Egypt
A military and economic alliance with Egypt is set to be signed by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The deal is to be clinched when Erdogan visits Cairo next Monday, the first such visit paid by a Turkish prime minister in 15 years, Haaretz said.
Under former President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt rejected Turkish overtures; Mubarak viewed Erdogan as an interloper in regions that were under Egypt's, and Saudi Arabia's, influence. The new Egyptian government, however, seems eager to develop economic and strategic ties with Turkey.