Erdogan reaches Saudi Arabia for landmark visit
• Meets Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman as ties between ex-rival nations improve in last two years
• State-run news agency reports Turkish president will travel to Egypt today
RIYADH: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday, Saudi media said, his first visit to the kingdom in over two years as Saudi Arabia moves closer to its rival-turned-ally.
Ties between Turkiye and Saudi Arabia have steadily recovered in recent years, with the countries cooperating on a range of diplomatic issues.
This includes support for Gaza and backing Syria’s new government in the wake of the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in 2024.
Erdogan met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in Riyadh, Turkiye’s Communications Director Burhanettin Duran told Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu.
Erdogan is accompanied by his wife, first lady Emine Erdogan, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, Defence Minister Yasar Guler, and other ministers.
No further detail on the closed-door meeting was provided.
However, Anadolu has earlier reported that they would discuss the “deepening cooperation” between the countries, as well as regional and global developments.
It added that Erdogan would then travel to Cairo on Wednesday.
Following the meeting, Erdogan attended a closed-door dinner in his honour, hosted by the Saudi crown prince at the Yemame Palace.
This is Erdogan’s first to the kingdom since July 2023, which was part of a Gulf trip aimed at drumming up investments.
The visit comes days after two sources told AFP that Turkiye would not be joining a mutual defence pact between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had said earlier this month that they had entered talks aimed at joining the alliance.
‘Balance thaw’
Experts like Umar Karim of the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom warn that Turkiye will have to balance any thaw with Riyadh against relations with other regional rivals.
“I think it’s in this visit that it will become clear what Turkiye can commit to Saudis in terms of this rivalry with UAE and in terms of the security threat from Israel,” Karim told AFP.
Relations between Riyadh and Turkiye were enormously strained after Saudi agents murdered Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.
Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2026
