Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is gearing up for a fence-mending visit to Saudi Arabia next month, hoping for financial benefits above all as simmering economic woes threaten his political fortunes at home. Erdogan’s trip to the kingdom would be another milestone in Ankara’s quest to reconcile with Arab heavyweights, following normalization with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and overtures with Egypt after years of rivalry.
Erdogan’s plan for a February visit to Riyadh became public knowledge shortly after Ibrahim Kalin, a senior presidential aide, asserted that Ankara would “accelerate normalization steps” in the region this year. Erdogan blurted the planned visit as he left a gathering of Turkish exporters Jan. 3 after a businesswoman asked him to resolve trade hitches with Saudi Arabia. “He is expecting me in February,” Erdogan said, without naming his contact.
Was it King Salman or Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler? Officially, the king is supposed to be the president’s interlocutor, but normalization will require reconciliation with the crown prince, whom Turkey has held responsible for the 2018 murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The gruesome killing fueled bilateral tensions, which were already on the rise over Turkey’s support for Qatar, hit by a Saudi-led blockade the previous years. While Erdogan shook his finger at the crown prince, he still called on King Salman on Muslim holidays to extend congratulations and courtesy.
Erdogan and his cohorts say bilateral ties soured because of the policies of the crown prince, widely referred to as MbS, which, in turn, were influenced by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Muhammed bin Zayed, whom Ankara accused of financing the failed coup attempt against Erdogan in 2016. Khashoggi’s murder came as an opportunity for Erdogan to discredit MbS. He blamed the murder on the crown prince without openly naming him, as Ankara leaked information to local and international media that targeted MbS. Ankara hoped the international clamor over the killing would block the crown prince’s path to the throne, but to no avail. The government-controlled Turkish media, which vilified MbS as “Abu Minshar” — translated roughly as “master of the saw” — until recently, are now busy explaining why a brotherly embrace with the Saudis is a must.
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