Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Cairo on September 12 to meet with the head of Egypt's ruling military council, Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi, Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf and other intellectuals, according to Turkish diplomatic sources. Erdogan's delegation includes the ministers of Foreign Affairs, Industry and Foreign Trade and a number of businessmen. They will discuss signing the agreement of Strategic Cooperation between Egypt and Turkey. Cooperation between the countries will cover military, diplomatic and commercial fields, besides the consular agreement, aiming to abolish the need for traveling visas between both countries. “Erdogan's visit to Egypt is at a good time to associate common Egyptian and Turkish views on many regional and international issues and deepen strategic relations between Cairo and Ankara,” said Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulant Aring. Erdogan's visit to Cairo was delayed three times, first before the Egyptian January 25 Revolution, the second because of the Turkish Parliamentary elections in March and the third time because of the tense relations between Cairo and Ankara and Israeli military's escalation in Gaza. Erdogan's visit to Cairo was preceded by important visits of Turkish officials including the chairman of European Union in Turkish Parliament, Yashar Yakas, Bulant Arig and a delegation of youth from the Turkish Justice and Development Party.
