Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman landed in Turkey for the first time in several years on Wednesday for talks with President Erdogan, after visiting neighboring Egypt and Jordan as part of a regional tour, Reuters reports.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and King Abdullah II of Jordan.
The visit to Turkey, a member of NATO, is “aimed at fully normalizing ties that were ruptured after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.”
The visit began with a welcome ceremony, and will be followed by a one-on-one meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the crown prince.
In April, President Erdogan visited Saudi Arabia in the first high-level visit in years which the two sides said would herald a new era of relations. Shortly before that, Turkey announced it would end Khashoggi’s murder trial in April and transfer the case to Riyadh.
“The visit marks a step in Prince Mohammed’s effort to rehabilitate his image beyond the Gulf, and comes as Erdogan seeks financial support that could help relieve Turkey’s beleaguered economy ahead of tight elections for the president,” according to Reuters.
The visit is expected to bring “a full normalization and a restoration of the pre-crisis period,” a senior Turkish official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. “A new era will begin.”
