An “advance party” of some 500 Mercedes-Benz vehicles arrived in Turkey before the arrival of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud. Then the king himself, after a five-day visit to Egypt, landed in Ankara on April 11.

“Even by Saudi Arabia’s extravagant standards, this week’s visit to Turkey by [Salman], seen as a key moment for relations between the two leading Sunni Muslim powers, has set new records for opulence and paranoia. An advance team of 300 Saudi security officials was sent to Ankara to prepare for the king’s arrival,” The Guardian reported.

When Salman stepped on the tarmac of Ankara’s airport Monday afternoon, his host, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was there. This was unusual because according to the strict protocol of the Republic of Turkey, the official welcoming ceremony for a foreign guest of the president should be held at the presidential palace.

Erdogan ignored the rules for his friend Salman. The two developed a personal rapport after Salman took the throne in January 2015, when Erdogan rushed to Riyadh for his inauguration.