Erdogan visits Saudi Arabia at the beginning of a Gulf tour focused on attracting investments

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Monday, kicking off a Gulf tour that will also take him to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The visit aims to boost Gulf investments in Turkey's struggling economy.

Erdogan is scheduled to meet Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of the kingdom, at the Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah on the Red Sea coast.

This is Erdogan's second visit to Saudi Arabia since the reconciliation between the two countries in April 2022, following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in 2018, which strained relations between the regional powers. Prince Mohammed visited Ankara in June 2022.

No press conferences have been announced, but several agreements are expected to be signed during the visit, according to a senior Saudi official cited by AFP.

Erdogan's visit comes at a time when Turkey continues to face economic difficulties, with a severe financial crisis, a record low Turkish lira against the dollar, and an inflation rate of 38.2% in June on an annual basis.

Erdogan, who was re-elected for a third term after a snap election in May, seeks to secure financial flows to revive the country's economy.

For almost a decade, tensions have marked Turkey's relations, as it hosts leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE classifying the group as a "terrorist organization." Turkey and the Gulf countries have also been on opposite sides in several regional conflicts in Syria and Libya.

The Saudi-led blockade on Qatar, Turkey's ally, for three years, and then the Khashoggi case the following year, poisoned relations between Ankara and Riyadh.

Sinem Cengiz, a researcher in Turkish-Gulf relations at Qatar University, stated, "Economic stability and commercial opportunities are not the only driving force behind the visit."

She added in an interview with AFP that "regional security concerns and the climate of diplomatic normalization push Ankara to establish deeper relations with Gulf countries in the coming period."

The visit comes a few months after diplomatic breakthroughs in the Middle East, following a surprising agreement mediated by China, announced on March 10th, which led to the resumption of severed relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Riyadh also announced the resumption of relations with Syria and hosted the Syrian president at the Arab summit two months ago.

An unnamed Arab diplomat in Riyadh stated that Erdogan's visit to the region complements the new approach of adopting a policy of "problem-solving" in the region.

He added, "Both Riyadh and Ankara are currently following a problem-solving approach and focusing on the domestic economic aspect."

He further stated, "Turkey wants to attract foreign and Gulf investments, especially to revive its faltering economy, while Riyadh continues to end regional conflicts."




AFP