Turkey and Egypt are set to launch their first joint air and naval drills in 13 years in the Eastern Mediterranean next week. 

Turkey’s Defense Ministry said the drills, called “Friendship Sea,” will take place Sept. 22-26. The move marks deepening cooperation between the Muslim powers after a long period of hostility stemming from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s vocal support for Egypt’s toppled Muslim Brotherhood-aligned president, Mohammed Morsi, who died in prison in 2019.

Tensions between Ankara and Cairo had played out in the Eastern Mediterranean as Egypt backed Turkey’s traditional foes Greece and Cyprus over exploration rights for oil and gas. Turkey stole a march on its rivals in 2019 when it signed a maritime boundary treaty with the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord in order to establish an exclusive economic zone in the Mediterranean Sea that was rejected by many countries in the region including Egypt, Greece and Cyprus as well as by Khalifa Hifter, the warlord governing eastern Libya. 

Fears of conflict heightened as Turkish drill ships protected by naval vessels began exploring in the Eastern Mediterranean near the Greek islands and Cyprus in what Athens and Nicosia claimed was a violation of their territorial waters.