Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Saudi Arabia this week to meet with top Saudi officials to discuss security and energy cooperation.
Erdogan said his government and Saudi Arabia are working “in solidarity and consultation” to find a political solution for Syria, as both countries push for an agreement that would remove Assad from power, according to the AP.
According to the AP and the Saudi Press Agency, Erdogan’s talks with Salman were attended by other senior Saudi royals and officials, including the kingdom’s crown prince, the deputy crown prince, and the ministers of finance, foreign affairs and information. Erdogan’s delegation to Saudi Arabia includes Turkey’s ministers of economy, energy and foreign affairs.
[PHOTOS: Turkish President Erdogan Meets with Top Saudi Officials in Riyadh]
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister Adel Al-Jubeir said that Saudi Arabia and Turkey plan to create a ‘strategic cooperation council’ to strengthen military, economic and investment cooperation between the two states, Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, said.
The uptick in diplomacy and relations between the two countries comes as Turkey looks to end its dependence on Russian energy amid differences over the war in Syria. In November, Turkish forces shot down a Russian jet that the United States confirmed was flying over Turkey, a violation of airspace. The pilot of the downed jet was killed.
Russia’s involvement in Syria and its continued backing of embattled President Bashar Assad puts it at odds with Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Before leaving for Saudi Arabia, Erdogan accused Syria’s president of “mercilessly” killing hundreds of thousands of people and criticized Russia for backing him, according to the AP.
On Friday, Russian planes killed rebel leader Zahran Alloush, 44, in an airstrike near Damascus, angering Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister who called the killing an “assassination” that “does not serve the peace process in Syria,” Al-Jubeir said.
“I don’t know the reason that made them do something like this. But what I do know is that if we wanted to reach a peaceful solution in Syria, we must deal with all the Syrian groups whose hands are not smeared with terrorism,” Jubeir said.
Turkey is a member of the recently announced 34-nation Islamic military alliance. It is also part of NATO.
