Turkish officials meet with Saudi ruler in Jeddah

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s chief foreign policy advisor Ibrahim Kalin and Turkish Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati on Saturday.

The ways of developing bilateral relations between the two countries in various fields were discussed in the meeting held at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s official news agency SPA reported.

Saudi Crown Prince and Turkish officials also discussed cooperation over a number of issues of common interest, SPA said.

سمو #ولي_العهد يستقبل، في قصر السلام بجدة، متحدث الرئاسة التركي، ووزير الخزانة والمالية بجمهورية تركيا.https://t.co/a0HK0PwgbA#واس pic.twitter.com/20zMqIsl6s

— واس الأخبار الملكية (@spagov) September 24, 2022

Turkey and Saudi Arabia are seeking to normalise relations that have reached an all-time low following the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

In June, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Prince Mohammed bin Salman travelled to Turkey to meet Erdoğan, after Turkey dropped a lawsuit of 26 Saudis accused of killing Khashoggi and transferred the case to Saudi Arabia in April. The two leaders emphasized the countries' determination to start a new era of cooperation in many areas, such as trade, energy and defence.

Last month, the Middle East Eye said Ankara expects $20 billion deposit into Turkish treasury bonds and accounts from Saudi Arabia, following rapprochement between Erdogan and Mohammed bin Salman.