President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an Saturday ended a two-day visit to reset Turkish-Saudi relations. During the visit, ErdoÄ?an met Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud as well as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and discussed various international, regional and bilateral issues.
Speaking to journalists on the presidential plane returning from Saudi Arabia, Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an said Turkiye and Saudi Arabia are determined to continue this effort for the common interests and stability of the region.
"I believe my visit will herald a new era in the ties between our two countries. We have demonstrated our common will to enhance ties on the basis of mutual respect and trust, most clearly and at the highest level," he said.
In recent years Turkish-Saudi ties suffered due to foreign-policy differences. Tensions rose following the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
Turkey this month decided to suspend the trial in absentia of 26 Saudis accused in the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents on Turkish soil. Its decision to transfer the case to Saudi Arabia removed a key obstacle to improved ties and Erdogan's visit.
The case became a bigger headache for the Saudi crown prince after a US intelligence assessment concluded that he had likely ordered the operation. The prince has denied any involvement, though he has said that he accepts responsibility for the killing, as Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler.
In November 2018, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an said the murder was "premeditated" and that the order to kill Khashoggi had come from the "highest levels" of the Saudi government.
Ankara's comments, which came amid a widespread global outcry, prompted an unofficial Saudi boycott of Turkish products. Ankara has since sharply toned down its rhetoric towards Riyadh, and has gone as far as saying there are no bilateral issues between the two regional powers.
ErdoÄ?an's visit is part of a broader effort to mend relations with Gulf countries after years of hostility fueled by ErdoÄ?an's support for Muslim Brotherhood-aligned groups during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. ErdoÄ?an is looking to bolster trade and lure investment from oil exporters as Turkey's floundering economy costs him support ahead of elections taking place next year.
Shipments to Saudi Arabia, once a key market for Turkey, slumped in late 2020, coinciding with what Turkish exporters said was an unofficial boycott. Last year, Turkish exports were just more than $200m in 2021, down from about $3.2bn in 2019, according to official Turkish data.
The government in Ankara hopes that the rapprochement will help restore trade to previous levels and boost Saudi investments in Turkey.
Before ErdoÄ?an visited the UAE, Turkey secured a $4.9bn currency swap deal with Abu Dhabi, following similar agreements with Qatar, China and South Korea. The UAE also announced a $10bn fund to support investments in Turkey.
The Turkish news agency Anadolu reported that the two countries signed 13 agreements including on defense, trade, climate change, industry and the economy.
Following that visit, the UAE announced a $10bn fund for investments in Turkey. The two countries also signed 10 security, economic and technological agreements, according to the official UAE news agency WAM.
The "reset" between Ankara and Riyadh, however, is likely to be a drawn-out process. "Structural conditions that have given rise to the current estrangement are likely to persist, the principal being the struggle for regional supremacy between Turkey and Saudi Arabia with their diverging approaches to Middle Eastern geopolitics," said Eyup Ersoy, international relations faculty member at Turkey's Ahi Evran University.
Soft power of Turkey
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