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.
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Back then, Erdogan’s aides appeared to revel in releasing gory details of how Saudi agents had dismembered Khashoggi, putting the heir to the throne under immense international pressure.
In the US, President Joe Biden vowed during his election campaign to turn the world’s biggest oil exporter into a pariah.
Times have changed. Biden will make his first visit to Saudi Arabia next month as the Russian invasion of Ukraine pushes up petrol prices at home. And as Türkiye struggles with a weak currency and inflation above 70 per cent, Erdogan’s also stepped up his efforts to rebuild ties with the kingdom and draw investment ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections next year.
Two Türkiye officials involved in talks with the Saudis said Ankara is seeking to secure a currency swap deal, akin to several that Türkiye has implemented with other countries in recent years.
It’s one of several options being discussed to secure foreign inflows from the world’s biggest oil exporter, which is flush with cash from high oil prices. A deal could ease pressure on Türkiye’s battered currency and help the government cope with the rising cost of energy imports.
Separately Turkish companies have complained of an unofficial boycott of the country’s goods after shipments to Saudi Arabia slumped in late 2020. Last year, Turkish exports were just over US$200 million, down from around US$3.2 billion in 2019, according to official Turkish data.
Erdogan wants that trade back. A rapprochement with the United Arab Emirates last year has unlocked billions of dollars worth of potential business, something Türkiye hopes to emulate with Saudi Arabia.
The UAE signed a US$4.9 billion currency swap with Türkiye in January, offering Turkey’s beleaguered currency much-needed support. The Gulf state has also outlined plans for a US$10 billion fund to support investments as it seeks to at least double bilateral trade.
In a bid to turn the page on a particularly fraught period in bilateral relations, a Turkish court ended its investigation into the Khashoggi murder in April and turned the case over Saudi authorities.
The veteran Turkish leader followed up with a relatively low-key visit to the kingdom.
Türkiye’s Erdogan meets Saudi leaders in first visit since Khashoggi killing
Prince Mohammed has denied involvement in the killing, while saying he accepts symbolic responsibility as the country’s de facto ruler.
A rapprochement would be a significant step in a broader realignment that’s taken place in the Middle East since Biden entered the White House.
Even before the Khashoggi crisis, Türkiye was at odds with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt over its support of the Muslim Brotherhood, a pan-Islamist political movement seen by many Arab governments as a threat to the ruling order.
The split over the role of political Islam has shaped regional politics for the past decade, and helped fuel conflicts in Libya, Syria and beyond since the 2011 Arab spring uprisings.
Türkiye is the final leg of a Middle East tour that took the Saudi crown prince to Egypt and Jordan, promoting his role as a regional power-broker ahead of Biden’s visit.
Saudi Arabia signed almost US$8 billion in deals on Tuesday with Egypt, a major wheat importer whose finances have been strained by elevated global grain and fuel prices and the accompanying rise in interest rates.
Saudi Arabia has already deposited billions of dollars in Egypt’s central bank to shore up reserves after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and said it would lead Gulf efforts to invest over US$30 billion in the country.
