Turkey’s Erdogan reveals he will visit Saudi Arabia in February

After years of chilly relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and as part of the Turkish President’s efforts to get closer to the Gulf States and Egypt, Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed yesterday that he will visit Saudi Arabia next February.

Speaking in Istanbul to announce the volume of Turkish exports in 2021, Erdogan answered a question about solving the problems of exporting Turkish products to Saudi Arabia, saying: “We have received promises, and I will visit Saudi Arabia in February”, Anadolu reported.

If the visit took place, as Erdogan said, it will be the Turkish president’s first visit after years of tension, especially in October 2018 in the wake of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in his country’s embassy in Istanbul. This is the issue that Erdogan tried to exploit politically to blackmail the Kingdom and harm its image internationally, and to the reputation of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

Turkey pushed for internationalization of the case, but Saudi legal and judicial procedures prevented it and put an end to attempts to politically recruit the crime.

Turkish-Gulf relations have generally been frosty for years; this was evident during the Qatar crisis, when Turkey invested in the crisis in order to drive a wedge in relations between the GCC countries and pushed all its weight behind the removal of Doha from its Gulf embrace.

In recent years, Turkey has faced a difficult financial situation, as traders, businessmen, and investors, as well as the Saudi commercial sphere, have boycotted Turkish trade and products.

There have been calls for Saudis to avoid visiting Turkey and buying property there, and Turkish exporters complained of delays at Saudi customs in 2020.

Ankara has been trying to repair ties with its regional rivals, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, for the past two years.

Erdogan’s upcoming visit to the kingdom comes at a critical stage for Turkey, whose national currency is facing a new crisis caused by Erdogan’s unconventional economic policies.

In May last year, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu visited Saudi Arabia for the first time since Khashoggi’s death.

In November of last year, the Turkish President received the Crown Prince of Abou Dabi, Sheikh Mohammed ben Zayed Al Nahyane, in Ankara. This visit opened a new chapter between the two countries, culminating in an Emirati announcement of the establishment of an investment fund worth $10 billion to support the Turkish economy.