Cavusoglu: Important steps towards normalizing Ankara, Riyadh relations

• 

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu revealed that there are important steps towards normalizing relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

During a televised interview with Turkish news broadcaster A Haber, Cavusoglu said his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, announced that he intends to visit Turkey, explaining that the visit has not been planned yet.

"We didn't have a negative attitude towards Saudi Arabia in terms of normalizing relations, either commercially, economically, or politically," the minister told the news broadcaster.

The Turkish minister added that "concrete steps will be taken on this issue in the coming period."

The two ministers had met at the 48th meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, and discussed bilateral relations between the two countries.

The Turkish Foreign Minister said progress in cooperation between Ankara and Riyadh's judicial institutions had been made, "despite a previous lack of constructiveness on the Saudi side," the Anadolu agency cited him as saying.

Prosecutor asks court to transfer Khashoggi case to Saudi Arabia

This comes as a Turkish prosecutor asked an Istanbul court to dismiss a case into the murder of Riyadh critic Jamal Khashoggi and transfer it to Saudi Arabia, local media reported on Thursday.

The development comes as Turkey is seeking a defrost in relations with Saudi Arabia, which worsened after the 2018 killing of Khashoggi - a contributor to The Washington Post - inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The court is expected to approve the justice ministry's request to transfer the case to Saudi Arabia, the private DHA news agency reported.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan noted in January he was planning a visit to Riyadh - which would come at a critical moment for Turkey, where inflation is surging to over 50%.