Saudi MBS to visit Egypt, Jordan, ahead of Turkey

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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will be launching on Monday a regional tour in Egypt that will see him going to Ankara in a bid to bolster regional ties, a Saudi diplomat said.

Bin Salman will take off from Egypt toward Jordan and then head on to Turkey, the diplomat said.

During the tour, MBS will bring up the "regional and international files and the future of international cooperation," the diplomat added, noting that the crown prince will be signing investment and energy deals with the states he will be visiting.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Friday that MBS would visit Ankara on June 22.

This visit would mark the Saudi monarch's first to Turkey since the murder of Saudi opposition figure Jamal Khashoggi, who was a major critic of the Saudi regime. He was brutally murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which heavily affected the ties between Riyadh and Ankara.

The visit is another step toward mending regional ties, and it comes months after a similar one by Erdogan to Saudi Arabia, which he made in April to try and fix bilats with Riyadh.

The Saudi diplomat said MBS was also expected to visit Greece, Cyprus, and Algeria, "probably in late July", none of which have been confirmed by the Saudi government yet.

Saudi is seeking to heal ties with Ankara as it grows closer with the Israeli occupation, trying to establish wider alliances and ties within the region.

Relations between "Israel" and Saudi Arabia, are growing warmer, with a new agreement on the horizon that will bring about new flight paths from occupied Palestine and through Saudi airspace, Israeli media reported last week.

Though Riyadh did not normalize ties with the Israeli occupation yet, unlike Abu Dhabi and Manama, it has already kicked off economic normalization with "Tel Aviv". The Kingdom is already issuing special visas to Israeli settlers, with Israeli and Saudi sources saying there has been a hike in signed deals recently and advanced contact concerning investments of Saudi businessmen and investment funds in "Israel".

Saudi businessmen have been increasingly asking for special entry visas for Israeli settlers, with the former going to the UAE and Bahrain for meetings with Israeli businessmen.

Dozens of Israeli businessmen traveled to Saudi Arabia for trade deals in recent months, Israeli media reported in late May.