Erdogan holds talks with Saudi leaders
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman met visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Al Salam Palace in Jeddah, local media reported on Friday.
“My visit reflects our joint will to start a new era of co-operation as the two brotherly countries. We will be making efforts in order to start a new era of enhanced relations between our two countries in all respects including politics, military, economy and culture,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted Erdogan as saying in its report.
“It is in our joint interest to boost our cooperation with Saudi Arabia in such areas as healthcare, energy, food security, agricultural technologies, defence industry and finance. It seems that we have significant potential particularly in renewable and green energy,” the president added.
Saudi state news agency SPA published images of the Turkish leader embracing Mohammed Bin Salman.
Pictures published by Turkish state media also showed a separate sit-down with King Salman.
Erdogan then visited the Muslim holy city of Makkah to perform an Umrah pilgrimage.
Prior to flying from Istanbul to Saudi’s second city Jeddah, where some roads were lined with Turkish and Saudi flags, Erdogan said he hoped “to launch a new era” in bilateral ties.
“We believe enhancing co-operation in areas including defence and finance is in our mutual interest,” Erdogan said.
“With this understanding, we are engaged in sincere efforts to ensure peace in our region, to solve problems through dialogue and diplomacy,” he added.
A Turkish official told reporters that Erdogan was not likely to make any formal announcement during the trip, which was expected to conclude on Friday.
Economic interests are “a major, major driver” of Erdogan’s visit, said Dina Esfandiary, senior Middle East adviser for the International Crisis Group.
In February, Erdogan travelled to the United Arab Emirates for the first time in nearly a decade, and called on business leaders to invest in Turkey.
The last time Erdogan visited Saudi Arabia was in 2017.