Turkish prez visits Saudi to mend ties
RIYADH: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has met with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince to “develop” relations in his first visit since the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi drove a wedge between the Sunni powers.
Saudi state news agency SPA on Thursday published images of the Turkish leader embracing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler who US intelligence officials determined approved the plot against Khashoggi - something Riyadh denies. The pair “reviewed the Saudi-Turkish relations and ways to develop them in all fields”, SPA reported.
Pictures published by Turkish state media also showed a separate sit-down with King Salman, the crown prince’s father.
Erdogan then visited the
Muslim holy city of Mecca to perform an umrah pilgrimage.
The trip came as Turkey, facing an economic crisis fuelled by the collapse of its currency and soaring inflation, tries to draw financial support from energy-rich Gulf countries.
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 cooperation in areas including defence and finance is in our mutual interest,” Erdogan said.
Saudi agents killed and dismembered Khashoggi, an insider turned critic, in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate in October 2018. His remains have never been found. The gruesome act risked isolating Saudi Arabia, and especially Prince Mohammed, while escalating Riyadh’s rivalry with Ankara.