Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday, according to Saudi media, marking his first visit to the kingdom in more than two years as relations between the two countries continue to improve.
Bilateral ties between Turkiye and Saudi Arabia have gradually strengthened, with both nations cooperating on various diplomatic matters, including support for Gaza and backing Syria’s new government following the 2024 removal of Bashar al-Assad.
During the visit, Erdogan is expected to hold talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The trip marks his first visit to Saudi Arabia since July 2023, when he toured Gulf states to attract investment.
Officials have not disclosed the specific agenda for the meeting.
But Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu reported that they would discuss the “deepening cooperation” between the countries, as well as regional and global developments.
It added that Erdogan would then travel to Cairo on Wednesday.
The visit comes days after two sources told AFP that Turkiye would not be joining a mutual defence pact between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had said earlier this month that they had entered talks aimed at joining the alliance.
Relations between Riyadh and Turkiye were enormously strained after Saudi agents murdered Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.
Turkiye angered Saudi Arabia by vigorously pursuing the case at the time, opening an investigation and briefing international media about the lurid details of the murder.
The meeting in Riyadh comes days ahead of a potential round of talks in Turkiye between the United States and Iran on February 6, an Arab official told AFP earlier today, after Tehran called for the restart of nuclear talks and Washington warned of consequences if a deal was not reached.
Erdogan has emerged as one of the key mediators leading a diplomatic push to find a resolution between the long-time foes to head off open conflict between the two sides.
Source: Express Tribune
