Turkey's Erdogan travels to Riyadh for fence-mending effort

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will to travel to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, his office announced, on latest leg of Ankara’s bridge-building efforts with regional rivals.

It will be Erdogan’s first visit to kingdom since Turkey dropped trial of 26 Saudis suspected of involvement in killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in October 2018.

Talks with Saudi officials during two-day visit will focus on ways of increasing cooperation, according to a statement from Erdogan office. sides will exchange views on regional and international issues.

decision earlier this month to transfer prosecution to Saudi Arabia removed last stumbling block to renewed Turkey-Saudi ties, in particular in Erdogan’s relationship with de-facto Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

killing of Khashoggi in kingdom’s Istanbul consulate sparked global outrage and put pressure on prince, who was said to have approved operation to kill or capture Khashoggi, in a U.S. intelligence report released a year ago. Saudi government has always denied any involvement by prince.

Erdogan, while not naming prince, said order to carry out assassination came from “highest levels” of Saudi government.

A Saudi court jailed eight people over killing in September 2020 — a trial described as a sham by rights groups — but Turkey also launched a case in absentia against 26 Saudi suspects.

April 7 transfer of case to Saudi Arabia came at request of Turkish prosecutor, who said re was no prospect of arresting or taking statements from defendants.

Khashoggi’s Turkish fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, h appealed against decision to suspend trial in Turkey and to transfer case to Saudi Arabia, but an ministrative court rejected appeal last week.

Over past year Ankara has embarked on a diplomatic push to reset relations with countries such as Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia after years of antagonism following 2011 Arab Spring.

Turkey’s support for popular movements linked to Muslim Brorhood initially spurred break with Arab regimes that saw brorhood’s vision of political Islam as a threat.

Later developments, particularly blocke of Turkish ally Qatar by its Gulf neighbors, reinforced split. lifting of embargo by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Bahrain early last year paved way for reconciliation.

Erdogan last visited Saudi Arabia in July 2017 as he attempted to resolve blocke on Qatar imposed previous month.

In February he received a fanfare welcome in UAE as Dubai’s Burj Khalifa was lit up with Turkish flag and Turkey’s national anm blared out.

Turkey’s diplomatic drive has coincided with its worst economic crisis in two deces, compounded by COVID-19 pandemic and now war in Ukraine. Official inflation stands at 61 percent while lira has plummeted, falling 44 percent in value against dollar in 2021.

Turkey has secured a $4.9 billion currency swap deal with Abu Dhabi, following similar agreements with Qatar, China and South Korea. UAE also announced a $10 billion fund to support investments in Turkey.

end of an unofficial Saudi boycott of Turkish goods, which cut Ankara’s exports by 90 percent, saw tre to Saudi Arabia reach $58 million last month, triple level for previous year but a fraction of $298 million registered in March 2020.

___

AP journalist Suzan Fraser contributed from Ankara, Turkey.