Turkey's President starts Gulf tour with trip to Saudi Arabia

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
17 Jul 2023 18:42

Turkish President lands in Saudi Arabia for one goal, working on joint investment and commercial activities between the two nations.

Turkish President and Saudi Prince shake hands in Ankara, Turkey, on June 22, 2022. (AP)

As part of a three-nation Gulf visit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives in Saudi Arabia on Monday. His goal is to draw foreign investment to his country's struggling economy.

Before traveling to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar later this week, Erdogan is set to arrive in the Red Sea city of Jeddah to meet with King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who serves as the nation's de facto ruler.

Before leaving Istanbul, Erdogan said during their visits, their "primary agenda will be joint investment and commercial activities with these countries in the upcoming period."

According to him, during the last 20 years, bilateral trade with Gulf nations has grown from $1.6 billion to almost $22 billion.

"With the business forums to be organized, we will look for ways to move this figure much further," Erdogan said.

Since a recent rapprochement, this is his second trip to Saudi Arabia. The killing of writer Jamal Khashoggi at the Kingdom's Istanbul consulate in 2018 soured relations between the two nations.

Read: Erdogan's Saudi Arabia visit: Turkey forgot about Khashoggi

By aggressively pursuing the matter at the time, starting an inquiry, and informing the international media of the grisly specifics of the death, Turkey infuriated Saudi Arabia.

However, with relations improving, Erdogan traveled to Saudi Arabia in April 2022 and Prince Mohammed visited Turkey in June of the previous year.

Erdogan's latest trip to Saudi Arabia takes place as Turkey fights a depreciation of its currency and high inflation that have harmed its economy.

As Ankara looks to non-Western friends for financial support, the two nations will sign a number of agreements during Erdogan's visit, a senior Saudi official said to AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

After being re-elected in May for a second five-year term, Erdogan's journey to the Gulf will be followed by a visit to northern Cyprus, which Turkey invaded and occupied in 1974.

"Erdogan's visit to the Gulf after the critical elections held in Turkey itself reflects the importance of the Gulf states in the Turkish foreign policy agenda," researcher at Qatar University Sinem Cengiz told AFP.

"Growing Gulf interest in investing in diverse sectors is a boost for Turkey, which is trying to increase exports to help ease its economic problems," he added regarding the Gulf-Turkish relations.