SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in the sun-drenched Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday morning, October 13, 2025, stepping into a diplomatic whirlwind aimed at cementing a fragile ceasefire in Gaza and charting a path toward lasting Middle East peace. His arrival, marked by a warm yet understated welcome from Egyptian officials, underscored Turkey's pivotal role in the marathon negotiations that have brought the region's most devastating conflict in decades to a tentative halt.
Erdogan was greeted at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport by a delegation including Egypt’s Culture Minister Ahmed Fouad Hanno, Youth and Sports Minister Ashraf Sobhy, Türkiye’s Ambassador to Cairo Salih Mutlu Sen, and a cadre of embassy staff. The ceremony, held under a clear azure sky with the distant shimmer of the Red Sea as a backdrop, was brief but symbolic – a nod to the mended ties between Ankara and Cairo after years of frosty relations.
Flanking the Turkish leader were key members of his inner circle: Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, whose tireless shuttle diplomacy in Qatar and Egypt helped broker the deal; National Intelligence Organization head Ibrahim Kalin, the shadowy architect of backchannel talks with Hamas; Communications Director Burhanettin Duran; and Chief Foreign Policy and Security Advisor Akif Cagatay Kilic. Their presence signaled Turkey's all-in commitment to the process, blending public bravado with private maneuvering.
Erdogan's visit comes at the invitation of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and U.S. President Donald Trump, the unlikely duo co-chairing what has been dubbed the "Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit." From the airport, the Turkish delegation wasted no time, proceeding directly to the sprawling International Convention Center, a modern glass-and-steel edifice perched on the city's corniche. There, amid heightened security and fluttering flags of over 20 nations, preparations were underway for a day of high-stakes deliberations on the "Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement" – a landmark document outlining the ceasefire's implementation, hostage releases, and Gaza's postwar reconstruction.
The summit, which kicked off in the early afternoon with a ceremonial signing, represents a rare convergence of global powers in a region scarred by division. More than 20 heads of state and government are in attendance, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Notably absent are Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – whose last-minute invitation was rescinded amid protests from Erdogan and others – and representatives from Hamas, the Islamist group whose October 7, 2023, attacks ignited the war.
Egyptian officials described the gathering's ambitious mandate: "to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to bring peace and stability to the Middle East, and usher in a new phase of regional security and stability." In a joint statement read by al-Sisi's spokesperson, the summit would "tee up" broader normalization between Israel and Arab states, echoing Trump's Abraham Accords from his first term. Yet beneath the optimism lies a web of unresolved tensions: Who governs postwar Gaza? How to dismantle Hamas's military wing? And how to deliver the billions needed for reconstruction without reigniting the cycle of violence?
For Erdogan, the summit is both a diplomatic coup and a personal vindication. Long a vocal critic of Israel's Gaza operations – which he has likened to "genocide" – the Turkish president has positioned Ankara as a mediator, funneling humanitarian aid and hosting Hamas leaders in exile. His bilateral meetings on the sidelines, including trilateral huddles with Macron and Starmer, emphasized a two-state solution as non-negotiable. "Peace without justice is an illusion," Erdogan declared in a brief airport statement, vowing to press for Palestinian statehood alongside economic revival. Sources close to the delegation say he will push for Turkish involvement in a multinational monitoring force, potentially alongside U.S., Egyptian, and Qatari troops, to oversee the ceasefire's phased rollout.
The catalyst for this gathering was the first phase of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that took effect last Friday, October 10, 2025 – exactly two years after Hamas's cross-border rampage killed 1,200 Israelis and saw 251 hostages dragged into Gaza. Under Trump's audacious 20-point plan, unveiled in early October, Hamas committed to releasing all remaining living hostages – 20 in total, including elderly civilians and children – by midday Monday. In exchange, Israel agreed to free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, partially withdraw troops from northern Gaza, and allow a surge in humanitarian aid. The deal, hammered out in indirect talks here in Sharm el-Sheikh just last week, marks the first sustained pause since a brief January 2025 truce collapsed after two months.
As dawn broke over Gaza on Monday, Red Cross vehicles idled at handover points in Khan Younis and Nuseirat, awaiting the hostages' transfer. Hamas published the names of the 20 captives overnight, including American-Israeli dual national Edan Alexander and several Thai farmworkers seized in the initial attack. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, addressing the Knesset earlier via video link, hailed the moment as "a testament to our resolve," while cautioning that "the war against terror continues." By noon, the first groups crossed into Israel, met by tearful families at a military base near Tel Aviv. Medical teams reported the hostages in varying conditions – some emaciated, others bearing signs of psychological trauma after 730 days in captivity.
Trump, fresh from a morning address to Israel's parliament where he declared the war "over" and urged a pivot to prosperity, arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh aboard Air Force One shortly after Erdogan. "This is a beautiful day rising for the Middle East," the U.S. president proclaimed during the signing ceremony, flanked by al-Sisi and a phalanx of Arab leaders. The Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement, a 15-page accord, endorses Trump's framework: phased de-escalation, UN-supervised aid corridors, and a timeline for Gaza's demilitarization. Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey – the "troika" of mediators – affixed their signatures first, committing to enforce the terms.
Yet the road ahead is fraught. The war, sparked by Hamas's paraglider incursions and rocket barrages on October 7, 2023, has exacted an unimaginable toll. Palestinian health authorities report over 67,800 deaths in Gaza – the vast majority women and children – with the enclave's 2.3 million residents facing famine, disease, and wholesale destruction. Independent analyses suggest the true figure could exceed 80,000 when accounting for bodies under rubble and indirect deaths from malnutrition. Gaza's healthcare system lies in ruins: 735 attacks on medical facilities by June 2025 alone killed 917 and injured 1,411. Over 90% of schools are damaged or destroyed, and 1.9 million Palestinians – 85% of the population – remain displaced, crammed into tent cities along the Rafah border.
Classified Israeli military data, leaked earlier this year, reveals an 83% civilian death rate among Palestinians killed – a ratio experts compare to the worst atrocities of recent conflicts, from Srebrenica to Mariupol. On the Israeli side, 1,983 have perished, including 466 soldiers, per official tallies. The human cost extends beyond borders: Hezbollah's rocket exchanges in Lebanon have claimed hundreds more, while Houthi disruptions in the Red Sea have spiked global shipping costs by 40%.
Trump's involvement – a sequel to his 2020 Abraham Accords – has drawn both acclaim and skepticism. Supporters, from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, praise the plan's emphasis on immediate hostage release and aid surges. Critics, including human rights groups, decry its vagueness on Palestinian governance and failure to address West Bank settlements. Al-Sisi called it the "last chance" for regional peace, warning that failure could unleash "unprecedented chaos." The Nobel Committee, announcing its 2025 prizes hours before Trump's departure, snubbed the U.S. leader – a slight his White House decried as "politically motivated."
Erdogan's day was not without drama. Flight tracking data showed his presidential jet, TRK1, briefly overshooting the runway and circling the Red Sea – a maneuver Turkish officials attributed to air traffic, though whispers linked it to Netanyahu's aborted attendance. The Israeli leader cited the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret-Simchat Torah as his excuse, but insiders say pressure from Erdogan's camp – who threatened to boycott – sealed the decision. In Ankara, meanwhile, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu slammed the trip as "grandstanding," urging focus on Turkey's economic woes amid 65% inflation.
As the summit adjourned into evening receptions – with Qatari Emir Tamim toasting "a new dawn" – the real test looms: implementation. Phase two, slated for November, envisions full Israeli withdrawal and Hamas's disarmament, backed by $50 billion in pledges from Gulf states and the EU. Aid trucks, halted during the war, began rolling in Sunday, carrying 1,200 tons of flour and medicine – a trickle compared to Gaza's needs.
For Gaza's survivors, like 12-year-old Aisha from Gaza City, who lost her parents in a 2024 airstrike, the ceasefire offers slim hope. "We want homes, not tents," she told reporters via video link. As fireworks lit Sharm's skyline – a controversial flourish amid Gaza's darkness – world leaders departed with handshakes and vows. Whether this "victory lap," as one aide called it, endures remains the Middle East's eternal question.
In Ankara, as Erdogan's plane lifted off at dusk, his office issued a terse readout: "Turkey stands with Palestine – today and tomorrow." The summit's echo will reverberate far beyond the Red Sea, testing if diplomacy can finally outpace destruction.
