Expecting a drastic change in Washington's foreign policy toward the Arab world, Saudi Arabia is rethinking its regional ties these days. Having reached out proactively to both Turkey and Qatar in the past few weeks, Riyadh could initiate a new realignment. Encouragingly, Ankara and Doha have reportedly reacted positively to reconciliation efforts. According to reports, an announcement on a Saudi-Qatar rapprochement can be expected at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit next month, if not before.
Bilateral tensions between Riyadh and Ankara spiraled downward with the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Just one day before the Riyadh-hosted Group of 20 summit last month, Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud made a phone call to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and both sides agreed on “keeping channels of dialogue open.”
Since then, Saudi-Turkish ties have somewhat improved and Riyadh has dropped plans to ban Turkish merchandise. This year, Turkish exports to the kingdom had fallen 16% as of October. On a positive note, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavasoglu tweeted Nov. 27, “A strong Turkey-Saudi Arabia partnership will be beneficial not just for our countries, but for the whole region.”
During his electoral campaign, US President-elect Joe Biden had vowed to “reassess” ties with Riyadh and even promised to make Saudi Arabia “the pariah that they are” during a 2019 Democratic debate. While previously banking on a victory by President Donald Trump, Riyadh is now compelled to change its direction after Biden’s electoral success.
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