Turkey's Erdogan visits Saudi as ties between former rivals warm

• During his first visit to Riyadh in over two years, Erdogan aimed to finalize a free trade agreement with the GCC and signed agreements to boost cooperation in oil, petrochemicals, and renewable energy.
• While cooperating on regional issues like Gaza and Syria, Turkey is navigating a delicate balance between Saudi Arabia and the UAE—reportedly declining a defense pact with the Saudis and Pakistan—while Erdogan prepares to mediate critical US-Iran nuclear talks in Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Riyadh on Tuesday his first visit in more than two years, as ties warm between Saudi Arabia and its rival-turned-ally.

Ankara hopes to "finalise negotiations towards a free trade agreement between Turkey and the member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)", the Turkish presidency said.

"The two sides agreed to strengthen their cooperation in the fields of oil, petroleum products, and petrochemicals," as well as in "electricity and renewable energy... building on Saudi Arabia's massive energy investments", the statement added.

Ties between Turkey 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 was expected to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during the visit -- his first to the kingdom since July 2023, which was part of a Gulf trip aimed at drumming up investments.

Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu reported that Erdogan would then travel to Cairo on Wednesday.

“Security threat”

The visit comes days after two sources told AFP that Turkey 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.

But experts like Umar Karim of the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom warn that Turkey will have to balance any thaw with Riyadh against relations with other regional rivals.

"I think its in this visit that it will become clear what Turkey can commit to Saudis in terms of this rivalry with UAE and in terms of the security threat from Israel," Karim told AFP.

"Based on what Turkey can and cannot deliver there will be this trilateral agreement," he said

"Because Turkish elites have financial interests in Dubai and the UAE is playing an important role in stabilising the Turkish economy, they cannot afford to go openly against it."
Relations soured during a Saudi-led blockade of Turkish ally Qatar by its Gulf Arab neighbours. The embargo was lifted in 2021 but ties with Turkey remained rocky.

The meeting in Riyadh comes days ahead of a potential round of talks in Turkey between the United States and Iran on February 6, an Arab official told AFP early Tuesday, after Tehran called for the restart of nuclear talks and Washington warned of consequences if a deal was not reached.

Erdogan has emerged as one of the key mediators leading a diplomatic push to find a resolution between the long-time foes to head off open conflict between the two sides.