Erdogan hopes the visit will herald a new era of relations after intense efforts to repair strained ties following the aftermath of the Jamal Khashoggi murder in Istanbul in 2018. Before the visit, in a policy reversal, Turkey halted and transferred its own trial of the Saudi suspects in the killing of Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia.
According to Reuters, Erdogan met with King Salman in an official ceremony in the al-Salam palace in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, attended the ceremony before having a one-on-one meeting with Erdogan.
The hosts take stock of the shift in the relations between two important countries in the region with a range of important aligned interests.12:52 -President Biden’s pick to be US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia is Michael Ratney, a career diplomat. Ratney is currently serving as the acting deputy director of the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute (FSI). He was recently the chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Jerusalem, and previously served as the deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Qatar as well as the acting deputy assistant secretary for the Levant and Israel and Palestinian Affairs. The veteran diplomat was US special envoy for Syria and served in Mexico City, Baghdad, Beirut, Casablanca and Bridgetown. The post has been vacant since John Abizaid left in January 2021.
Dr. Alhamlan joins to talk about her life’s journey that took her as a young woman from Medina to becoming an American-educated PHD researcher, Eisenhower fellow, and now as a leader at Saudi Arabia’s top globally-ranked hospital.
Dr. Alhamlan also discussed the importance of the Saudi scholarship program for students to study abroad, formerly known as the King Abdullah Scholarship, as well as women’s empowerment and health issues, and the challenges in creating awareness in Saudi Arabia of key medical and health issues.1:20:00 – Yallah! A discussion of 6 top storylines in Saudi Arabia to get you up to date before the weekend.
•Saudi Arabia is targeting a tenfold increase in international airline passengers transiting the kingdom by the end of the decade as it looks to triple annual passenger traffic, an official told Reuters.•Saudi Arabia, a major investor in Lucid, has agreed to buy up to 100,000 Lucid EVs over the next 10 years. The deal is for at least 50,000 vehicles over that time, with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Finance having an option to purchase up to 50,000 more, according to a report in CNBC.•According to a report by Stephen Kalin in the Wall Street Journal, “Saudi princes have sold more than $600 million worth of real estate, yachts and artwork in the U.S. and Europe since the kingdom’s de facto ruler tightened the purse strings of the ultrawealthy ruling family.
The transactions represent a radical change of fortune for senior princes who funneled windfalls from oil booms in the 1970s and 1980s into some of the world’s most exclusive markets.”
•The recently announced Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Nonprofit City has appointed David Henry as the chief executive officer of the City, according to a report in Arab News.
An industry veteran with over four decades of experience in property development, David has been leading the team responsible for developing the City from the beginning of the project towards the goal of establishing it as a premier ecosystem for youth, and a global center for incubating innovative, educational, and creative enterprises.
•Saudi Arabia’s new investment law is expected to increase international business by 50 percent, Arab News reports, as it treats both local and foreign investment equally, removing any commercial advantage previously extended to Saudi companies, said Sovereign Saudi Arabia.
“By legally enforcing the principle of competitive neutrality to public and private investors, this removes any previous commercial barriers to entry,” said Paul Arnold, managing director of Sovereign Saudi Arabia.
•Saudi Arabia has initiated a program for cloud seeding, a weather modification technique, in three regions as part of a plan seeking to increase annual rainfall in the kingdom by 10 to 20 per cent, according to Gulf News.
