After UAE visit, Erdogan looks forward to improving relations with Saudi Arabia
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: Turkey is pursuing a positive dialog with Saudi Arabia and wants to take concrete steps in the coming days to improve relations amid Ankara’s efforts to mend strained relations with countries in the region.
Erdogan told reporters aboard the plane during the return flight from the United Arab Emirates yesterday: “We continue our positive dialog with Saudi Arabia, we want to take concrete steps in the coming period, and we want to develop the process in a positive direction”.
Last month, Erdogan told businessmen that he intended to visit Saudi Arabia this month to resolve political and economic differences between the two countries. However, neither the Turkish president nor any Turkish official spoke of any steps to prepare for the visit or set a date for it, while the Saudi side remained silent, which makes it likely that there is no final agreement yet on the date of the visit.
Over the past year, there have been a series of contacts at the level of foreign and economic ministers and other political levels, but no contacts between Erdogan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who takes a hard line toward Turkey and its president, following the crisis of the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul and Turkey’s efforts to exploit it for economic and political gains.
