Jeddah: Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Thursday, met with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, marking his first visit to the Kingdom since the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
With the visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Erdogan is seeking to mend ties with Saudi Arabia amid economic challenges in his country ahead of next year’s elections.
Upon his arrival, President Erdogan was received by the Saudi King, HRH Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud himself. The President was accompanied by his wife, along with several Turkish officials on a two-day official visit to the country, the Turkish presidency said in a statement.
After meeting with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, President Erdogan tweeted, hoping to increase “all kinds of political, military and economic relations” between the two nations and to start a new era.
Hâdimü’l Haremeyn’in daveti üzerine Suudi Arabistan’a bir ziyaret gerçekleştirdik.
Tarihî, kültürel, beşerî bağlara sahip iki kardeş ülke olarak aramızdaki her türlü siyasi, askerî, ekonomik ilişkilerin artırılması ve yeni bir dönemin başlaması için gayret içerisindeyiz. pic.twitter.com/Jqhhw3F2Rv
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) April 28, 2022
“We believe that it is in our common interest to increase our cooperation with Saudi Arabia in areas such as health, energy, food security, agricultural technologies, defence industry and finance. We see that we have serious potential in renewable and clean energy technologies.”
Suudi Arabistan’la sağlık, enerji, gıda güvenliği, tarım teknolojileri, savunma sanayi, finans gibi alanlarda iş birliğimizi artırmanın müşterek menfaatimize olduğuna inanıyoruz.
Yenilenebilir ve temiz enerji teknolojileri başlıklarında ciddi potansiyelimizin olduğunu görüyoruz. pic.twitter.com/KiTr4pOJmT
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) April 28, 2022
The President also met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and expressed hope to take relations beyond the past in every field.
“Our journey in the blessed month of Ramadan, when the mercy, forgiveness and compassion of our Lord envelops our hearts, will open the doors of a new era with our friend and brother Saudi Arabia.”
İlişkilerimizi her alanda geçmiştekinin de ötesine taşıyacağımıza inanıyorum.
Rabbimizin rahmet, mağfiret ve şefkatinin gönülleri kuşattığı mübarek Ramazan ayındaki bu seyahatimiz, dost ve kardeş Suudi Arabistan’la yeni bir dönemin kapılarını aralayacaktır. 🇹🇷🇸🇦 pic.twitter.com/kxTuQxxqnU
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) April 28, 2022
Relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Turkey hit an all-time low due to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi – a prominent of the Crown Prince – and the President had not visited the Kingdom since then.
Speaking in Istanbul before flying to Jeddah, Erdogan said the two economies complement each other and that the visit showed a “joint will to start a new period of cooperation.”
Read: Turkey suspends trial of Khashoggi killing
