Egypt and Turkey deepen defense cooperation with letter of intent and joint exercises

Egypt and Turkey signed a defense industry letter of intent on July 13 and have conducted joint military exercises, expanding their military partnership.

• Turkish defense industry head Haluk Görgün and Egyptian Defense Minister Ashraf Salem Zahar signed a letter of intent in Ankara on July 13 to establish a framework for defense industry cooperation.
• The two countries have conducted joint military exercises involving air, naval, and ground forces, including an Egyptian-Turkish air exercise in June 2026.
• Egypt hosted a quadrilateral meeting with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, during which Ankara and Cairo reached agreement on several issues, including Libya.
• The Egyptian military announced on July 12 that Defense Minister Zahar traveled to Turkey at the head of a military delegation for talks on defense cooperation.