Türkiye’s Erdogan and Saudi crown prince embrace as years of rancour end
- Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits Türkiye on his first tour outside the Gulf region in over three years
- Ties between Ankara and Riyadh took a turn for the worse after a Saudi hit squad killed Jamal Khashoggi in 2018
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to work toward closer relations in areas such as economy and defence to turn the page on years of rancour that had brought trade and diplomatic ties to a virtual standstill.
Erdogan and the Saudi crown prince had talks in a sincere and brotherly atmosphere in line with “perfect relations” between the countries, according to the text of a joint statement.
“The sides expressed determination to work on improving economic, military, security relations to start a new era of cooperation in bilateral ties,” the statement said. “The sides especially expressed interest in cooperation in oil and oil refining.”
The two agreed to ease trade barriers and work toward overcoming obstacles, with the Erdogan administration urging Saudi investment funds to explore opportunities in Türkiye, the statement added. No mention was made of any immediate Saudi assistance for Türkiye or currency swap deal between countries.
Erdogan had welcomed the crown prince with full military honours on Wednesday as blue-uniformed presidential guards on horseback carried the flags of both countries. The two leaders smiled and embraced ahead of the national anthems.
Prince Mohammed’s visit is the first by the de facto Saudi ruler since the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who had criticised the prince’s policies, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul severely strained ties between the two regional powers.
