[ad_1]
This would be the first visit by the Turkish president in 2018 since the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi by a group of Saudi agents in Istanbul.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will travel to Saudi Arabia next month, the first visit by the Turkish leader since 2018. Murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi Istanbul.
Amazing relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia deteriorated significantly after the savage assassination of Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018.
“It simply came to our notice then. They made a promise and I will pay a visit to Saudi Arabia in February, ”Erdogan said in a video posted on social media on Monday.
The comment was answered in response to a trade dispute with Saudi Arabia over a trade event in Istanbul.
There was no immediate confirmation of the planned visit from Riyadh.
Khashoggi, a 59-year-old journalist, wrote a column for The Washington Post and went to the consulate to get documents to marry Hatice Cengiz, a Turkish groom.
He was killed and dismembered at the consulate in a case that tarnished the reputation of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Mohamed bin Salman despite strongly denying any participation.
Traces of Khashoggi have never been found, and so did Erdogan at the time He blamed Saudi officials even though he never named Prince Mohamed as his successor.
The murder had headlines around the world and a Trial of several Saudi defendants is currently up and running in Turkey.
In the coming years, Saudi Arabia wanted to informally put pressure on the Turkish economy, which in 2018 had already suffered a currency crisis.
The Saudis called on Turkey to visit and avoid buying property there, while Turkish exporters complained of delays in Saudi Customs in 2020.
Relations between the two countries have also been strained by other conflicts in the region, including the wars in Syria and Libya.
In addition, Riyadh, along with other states in the region, has repeatedly accused Turkey of supporting “terrorist” groups.
But Turkey has sought to close ties with rivals in the region, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, over the past two years.
Last May, the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was in Saudi Arabia For the first time since Khashoggi’s assassination, marking the end of a long diplomatic winter between the two countries, the two sides announced they hoped to resolve relations.
The planned visit to Saudi Arabia comes at a critical time for Turkey, which is facing another currency crisis caused by Erdogan’s unusual economic policies.
Relations between Ankara and the United Arab Emirates are also showing signs of rapprochement.
During his first high-level visit to Turkey in November 2012, Abu Dhabi Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed was in Ankara, as announced by the United Arab Emirates. billions of dollars in investments in Turkey.
[ad_2]
Source link
