The State Department portrays the Erdogan-Sisi rapprochement as a “diplomatic victory” that will “calm” the Eastern Mediterranean. The record shows the opposite. Two of the region’s largest conventional militaries are now training together while Ankara embeds Turkish defense production inside Egypt’s armed forces.

In September 2025, Turkish and Egyptian warships conducted their first joint naval exercise in 13 years. “Friendship of the Sea” ran for five days in the Eastern Mediterranean and included frigates, fast-attack craft, submarines, and Turkish F-16 support. In June 2026, the two air forces followed with multiday combat training across multiple Egyptian bases, using F-16s for coordinated operations. Turkish and Egyptian special forces had already trained together in Ankara the previous April. These were not courtesy calls. Together, they field well over 750,000 active personnel backed by substantial armored, naval, and air forces.