Rare Turkey-Egypt naval drill may signal end of ‘bad old days’

ISTANBUL — Turkey and Egypt staged their first joint naval drill in more than a decade last week, signaling a cautious thaw in relations after years of political hostility.

The Eastern Mediterranean drills suggest Ankara and Cairo are easing tensions, though their strategic interests remain far from aligned.

The exercise, dubbed Sea of Friendship-2025 (Bahr El Sadaka) held between Sept. 22 and 26, 2025, was the first such training after a 13-year hiatus.

According to the Turkish Navy, top brass present included Turkish Fleet Commander Adm. Kadir Yıldız and Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Navy Rear Adm. (UH) Mohamed Hassan El-Sherbeny.

The two countries had regularly held joint military exercises until 2012, when political relations deteriorated after the overthrow of the Egyptian government. Diplomatic ties remained strained for more than a decade, halting defense cooperation.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s February 2024 visit to Cairo, his first in 12 years, marked a broader normalization effort spanning political, economic, and security domains, opening channels for political dialogue, trade and even for military cooperation.

Ret. Rear Adm. Cem Okyay framed the Turkey–Egypt naval exercise as both a symbolic and practical milestone. He stressed that while Turkish and Egyptian ships have long shared the same waters, conducting joint drills after more than a decade reflects a new diplomatic opening spearheaded by the navies themselves.

Beyond the military dimension, Okyay highlighted growing opportunities for defense industry cooperation, modernization projects and humanitarian missions. He argued that Ankara’s cautious rapprochement with Cairo is reinforced by economic investments and high-level political dialogue, showing the relationship runs deeper than a one-off exercise.

Serhat Güvenç, a professor of international relations, described the the event as a cautious but notable thaw in ties. He argued the drills marked the end of a long freeze, signaling that Ankara and Cairo have regained enough trust to cooperate militarily once again.

At the same time, he framed the exercise as a pointed message to Israel, whose aggressive moves in the Eastern Mediterranean have also unsettled Egypt.

Yet Güvenç warned against exaggerating the degree of rapprochement. That is because Egypt has not shifted on its core interests, as shown by its recent rejection of Turkey’s maritime boundary deal with Libya.

The joint exercise suggests the “bad old days” are behind the two countries, but it does not mean their strategic positions in the region fully align, Güvenç said.

Cem Devrim Yaylali is a Turkey correspondent for Defense News. He is a keen photographer of military ships and has a passion for writing about naval and defense issues. He was born in Paris, France, and resides in Istanbul, Turkey. He is married with one son.

伊斯坦布尔——上周，土耳其和埃及举行了十多年来的首次联合海军演习，这标志着两国关系在多年政治敌对之后出现了谨慎的解冻迹象。

东地中海地区的演习表明安卡拉和开罗正在缓和紧张局势，尽管两国的战略利益仍然远未一致。

此次名为“友谊之海-2025”（Bahr El Sadaka）的演习于2025年9月22日至26日举行，是时隔13年后的首次此类训练。

据土耳其海军称，出席的高级将领包括土耳其舰队司令卡迪尔·耶尔德兹海军上将和埃及海军参谋长穆罕默德·哈桑·谢尔贝尼海军少将（UH）。

两国曾定期举行联合军事演习，直到2012年埃及政府被推翻后，两国政治关系恶化。此后十余年间，外交关系持续紧张，防务合作也随之中断。

土耳其总统雷杰普·塔伊普·埃尔多安于2024年2月访问开罗，这是他12年来首次访问开罗，标志着土耳其在政治、经济和安全领域展开了更广泛的正常化努力，为政治对话、贸易甚至军事合作开辟了渠道。

退役海军少将杰姆·奥克亚伊将土耳其-埃及联合海军演习视为一个具有象征意义和实际意义的里程碑。他强调，尽管土耳其和埃及的舰艇长期以来一直共享同一片海域，但时隔十余年再次举行联合演习，标志着两国海军共同推动了外交关系的新开放。

除了军事层面，奥凯还强调了国防工业合作、现代化项目和人道主义援助方面日益增长的机遇。他认为，安卡拉与开罗谨慎的缓和关系得益于经济投资和高层政治对话，这表明两国关系并非一蹴而就。

国际关系学教授塞尔哈特·居文奇将此次事件描述为两国关系谨慎但显著的解冻。他认为，此次演习标志着长期关系冻结的结束，表明安卡拉和开罗已经重建了足够的信任，可以再次开展军事合作。

与此同时，他将此次演习视为向以色列发出的一个明确信号，以色列在东地中海的咄咄逼人的举动也令埃及感到不安。

然而，居文奇警告说，不应夸大两国关系缓和的程度。这是因为埃及并未在其核心利益问题上做出让步，正如其近期拒绝土耳其与利比亚达成的海上边界协议所表明的那样。

居文奇表示，此次联合演习表明两国已经告别了“糟糕的旧时光”，但这并不意味着两国在该地区的战略地位完全一致。

杰姆·德夫里姆·亚伊拉利是《防务新闻》驻土耳其记者。他热衷于拍摄军舰，并对海军和国防议题充满热情。他出生于法国巴黎，现居土耳其伊斯坦布尔。他已婚，育有一子。