JEDDAH: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived Monday in Saudi Arabia at the start of a three-state Gulf tour as he looks to attract foreign investment in his country’s ailing economy.
Erdogan landed in the Red Sea city of Jeddah to meet King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman before heading for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar later this week.
Saudi Arabia and Turkey signed a number of memorandums of understanding in many fields including energy, direct investments and defence..
President Erdogan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman witnessed the signing ceremony of the bilateral agreements between the two countries.
Saudi Arabia signed two contracts with Turkish defence firm Baykar to buy drones “with the aim of enhancing the readiness of the Kingdom’s armed forces and bolstering its defense and manufacturing capabilities,” Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said in a tweet.
The two countries also signed a defence cooperation plan, the minister added. Erdogan met the crown prince late Monday night after arriving in Saudi Arabia.
He had arrived in the kingdom earlier on Monday for the first stop of a Gulf tour with “high hopes” for investment and finance as Turkey looks to ease budget strains, chronic inflation and a weakening currency.
Erdogan’s Gulf tour, which also includes Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, is due to conclude on July 19. Erdogan’s latest Saudi trip comes as Turkey battles a currency collapse and soaring inflation that has battered its economy.
The visit is his second to Saudi Arabia since a rapprochement. Ties between the two countries were strained by the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate.
Turkey angered Saudi Arabia by vigorously pursuing the case at the time, opening an investigation and briefing international media on the gory details of the killing.
But with ties on the mend, Erdogan visited Saudi Arabia in April 2022, and Prince Mohammed travelled to Turkey in June last year. In March, Saudi Arabia deposited $5 billion into Turkey’s central bank.
Turkey’s support for organisations linked to the Muslim Brotherhood initially spurred the break with Gulf states. Relations soured further following a Saudi-led blockade of Turkish ally Qatar by its Gulf Arab neighbours. The embargo was lifted in 2021 but ties with Turkey remained rocky.
