Turkey’s Erdogan in UAE, meets MBZ ahead of landmark Egypt visit

ANKARA — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began a two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates Tuesday by discussing bilateral cooperation and the war in Gaza with his Emirati counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, often called by his initials MBZ.

Erdogan’s trip to the UAE — the second since his reelection in May — is centered on the World Government Summit happening in Dubai and comes on the eve of his first visit to Egypt in 11 years.

Erdogan and Sheikh Mohammed discussed ways to improve a “wide-ranging economic partnership” between their countries in a series of fields including trade, energy and technology, according to UAE’s state news agency WAM. The two countries had inked cooperation deals potentially worth more than $50 billion during Erdogan’s previous visit to the country in July. 

On Gaza, the two leaders stressed the need for international efforts to “halt hostilities” in the Palestinian enclave, increase humanitarian aid to the Strip and prevent the further spread of the conflict in the region, WAM reported.