Erdoğan travels to Saudi Arabia to increase cooperation

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will travel to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, his office announced, on the latest leg of Ankara’s bridge-building efforts with regional rivals.

Talks with Saudi officials during the two-day visit will focus on ways of increasing cooperation, according to a statement from Erdoğan office. The sides will exchange views on regional and international issues.

The killing of Khashoggi in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate sparked global outrage and put pressure on the prince, who was said to have approved the operation to kill or capture Khashoggi, in a U.S. intelligence report released a year ago. The Saudi government has always denied any involvement by the prince.

A Saudi court jailed eight people over the killing in September 2020 — a trial described as a sham by rights groups — but Turkey also launched a case in absentia against 26 Saudi suspects.

The April 7 transfer of the case to Saudi Arabia came at the request of the Turkish prosecutor, who said there was no prospect of arresting or taking statements from the defendants.

Over the past year, Ankara has embarked on a diplomatic push to reset relations with countries such as Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia after years of antagonism following the 2011 Arab Spring.

Turkey’s support for popular movements linked to the Muslim Brotherhood initially spurred the break with Arab regimes that saw the brotherhood’s political vision as a threat.

Later developments, particularly the blockade of Turkish ally Qatar by its Gulf neighbors, reinforced the split. The lifting of the embargo by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain early last year paved the way for reconciliation.

Erdoğan last visited Saudi Arabia in July 2017 as he attempted to resolve the blockade on Qatar imposed the previous month.

In February he received a fanfare welcome in the UAE as Dubai’s Burj Khalifa was lit up with the Turkish flag and Turkey’s national anthem blared out. A NEWS