Turkey’s foreign minister arrived in Saudi Arabia yesterday for talks aimed at overcoming a rift over the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul that led to bitter recriminations and a Saudi boycott of Turkish goods.
Mevlut Cavusoglu was due to hold talks in the kingdom after years of tensions between the two regional powers, which are also at odds over Turkish support for Qatar in a dispute with its Gulf neighbours and over President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s backing of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is banned in Saudi Arabia.
Turkish officials had said Cavusoglu’s visit could include talks on possible sales of Turkish drones to Saudi Arabia, which they said Riyadh had requested.
The current violent clashes in Jerusalem may also overshadow the bilateral talks.