Skip to main content

Turkey’s Erdogan arrives in Saudi Arabia, first stop on Gulf tour

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his three-day Gulf tour, which includes Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, will focus on economic cooperation.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman (R) during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022. Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler took a big step out of international isolation on June 22, 2022, paying his first visit to Sunni rival Turkey since the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

ANKARA — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Jeddah on Monday, embarking upon his first regional tour after his reelection last May as Ankara scrambles to draw foreign funds to ease the country’s foreign currency crunch

Speaking before he departed to Saudi Arabia, the first leg of his tour, Erdogan said economic cooperation would be the main focus of his visits. “The primary agenda of our visits will be joint investment projects and commercial activities that we can carry out together with these countries,” he said.

In Jeddah, Erdogan is set to meet with Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as well as other Saudi officials. 

Following Jeddah, the Turkish president will travel to Qatar on Tuesday to meet with Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and then to the United Arab Emirates to meet with Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.