Turkey’s Erdogan visits Saudi Arabia to mend ties
The Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will today visit Saudi Arabia, capping a months-long campaign to mend ties with Riyadh, which includes Ankara withdrawing a legal complaint over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.
During the two-day trip, Erdogan’s office said he will meet with Saudi officials to discuss Ankara’s relations with the kingdom, as well as methods to improve collaboration.
After Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018, relations between the two countries were strained. Erdogan initially accused the Saudi government’s “highest echelons” of issuing the orders, but Ankara has now tempered its stance.
A Turkish court earlier this month stopped the trial of Saudi suspects in the death and transferred it to Saudi Arabia, paving the way for the visit.
The decision was endorsed by the government but condemned by rights groups. Erdogan’s scheduled visit was first reported by Reuters earlier this week.
It is a significant shift in bilateral strategy and maybe the most significant step in Ankara’s effort to mend frayed ties with regional powers such as the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia since 2020.
Following the verbal spat over Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia placed an unofficial boycott on Turkish imports in 2020.
Turkey’s economy has been in decline for years, and a lira crisis occurred in late 2021 as a result of Erdogan’s unconventional monetary policy, which drove inflation past 60 per cent. Ankara has sought to alleviate economic constraints through diplomatic rapprochements as Erdogan prepares for a challenging election in mid-2023.
Ankara may pursue a currency exchange agreement with Riyadh in addition to current agreements with China, Qatar, South Korea, and the UAE, which are worth a combined $28 billion. Officials said it is also interested in investments and contracts comparable to those signed with Abu Dhabi. “Erdogan is a pragmatic and political animal, and unless he can generate jobs, his polls may not last a year,” a Western official added.
