Crown prince’s visit is a reminder that Saudi-Turkish relations
have progressed rapidly in the last two years.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's trip signals Riyadh and
Ankara have moved past issues that divided them in recent years.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
(MBS) travelled to Turkey for the first time in years for
talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, aiming to
fully normalise ties that were ruptured after the 2018
killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi
consulate in Istanbul.
Erdogan welcomed Prince Mohammed at the
presidential palace in Ankara with a ceremony and the
two shook hands and embraced, before being met by
members of the Turkish cabinet.
In a statement following the talks, the two countries
emphasised determination on ushering in a new period
of cooperation in bilateral relations.
MBS’ visit comes as part of a tour that included stops in
Egypt and Jordan earlier this week.
Prince Mohammed has been leveraging Saudi Arabia’s
vast wealth and oil production capacity to soften
criticism of the country’s human rights record. In turn,
Erdogan is seeking financial support that could help
relieve Turkey’s beleaguered economy ahead of tight
elections for the presidency, expected in 2023.
The trip is expected to bring “a full normalisation and a
restoration of the pre-crisis period”, a senior Turkish
official told Reuters news agency. “A new era will
begin.”
The Turkish official said the two countries had lifted
restrictions on trade, flights and the screening of TV
series, with mutual negative media coverage also
halted.
However, he said negotiations on a possible currency
swap line – which could help restore Turkey’s
diminished foreign reserves – were not moving “as fast
as desired” and will be discussed privately between
Erdogan and Prince Mohammed.
The two countries also discussed improving cooperation
in trade and sectors such as defence, energy and
tourism among others, the joint statement said. It
added that Ankara invited Saudi investment funds to
invest in Turkish startups.
Turkey’s economy is badly strained by a slumping lira
and inflation soaring beyond 70 percent. Saudi funds
and foreign currency could help Erdogan shore up
support ahead of elections, analysts say.
The leaders will also discuss the possible sale of
Turkish armed drones to Riyadh, Turkish officials said.
Economic ties
Ties between Ankara and Riyadh took a turn for the
worse after a Saudi hit squad killed and dismembered
Khashoggi in October 2018.
Erdogan at the time blamed it on the “highest levels” of
the Saudi government. MBS has denied any
involvement in the murder.
However, Ankara halted its murder trial in April after
a months-long drive to mend relations. The
rapprochement was marked by Ankara’s approval of a
request to transfer the trial to Riyadh.
Human rights groups condemned the move, saying
Saudi Arabia could not be expected to hold a fair trial.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi received MBS at
the airport on Monday evening, on the first leg of a
Middle East tour that comes ahead of United States
President Joe Biden’s trip to the region next month.
The Saudi leader, who is a steady financial backer of
the Egyptian government, discussed “regional and
wider international political affairs”, according to el-
Sisi’s spokesman Bassam Radi.
MBS then departed to Jordan for talks with its
monarch, King Abdullah II, also a close ally of Saudi
Arabia.
Business leaders and officials hoped the visit would
unblock at least $3bn of investment projects that Saudi
Arabia committed to in recent years but that never
materialised.
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