Egyptian–Turkish relations are bilateral relations between Egypt and Turkey. Egypt and Turkey are bound by strong religious, cultural and historical ties, but diplomatic ties between the two have remained extremely friendly at times and extremely strained at others. For three centuries, Egypt was part of the Ottoman Empire, whose capital was Istanbul in modern-day Turkey, despite governor of Egypt, Muhammad Ali, waged war against the Ottoman sultan, Mahmud II, in 1831. On 23 November 2013, the Egyptian government expelled the Turkish ambassador in Cairo after a months-long diplomatic crisis.