Many pacts to be signed during crown prince’s visit to Turkey

Many pacts to be signed during crown prince’s visit to Turkey
GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN | Published — Thursday 29 September 2016






RIYADH: The talks between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif, minister of interior, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, today in Turkey will focus on key bilateral and regional issues with special reference to the turmoil in the Middle East.
“Several agreements are also expected to be signed during the two-day visit of crown prince to Ankara,” said Turkish Ambassador Yunus Demirer, while speaking via phone from the Turkish capital, on Wednesday.
“The agreements, to be endorsed by the Kingdom and Turkey, are in the fields of manpower cooperation, science, culture and cooperation among mass communication channels like radio and television,” said Demirer.
This is the first visit of the crown prince, or for that matter any high-ranking Saudi official to Turkey after a failed military coup that shook the NATO member state in July this year.
He said that Crown Prince Mohammed will arrive in Ankara Thursday afternoon. The royal visit, according to Demirer, is significant keeping in view the close relations between the two countries in recent years “on issues like the ongoing wars and strife in Syria, Yemen, and Iraq, along with Iran’s role in the region’s conflicts and cooperation in combating terrorism.”
The envoy said that the crown prince will be accompanied by top Saudi officials including Adel Al-Jubeir, foreign minister, and Majid Al-Qassabi, minister of commerce and investment. The crown prince, who is the chairman of the Council for Political and Security Affairs, will also hold consultations with Turkish Premier Binali Yildirim, as well as with the ministers of defense and foreign affairs.
Referring to the growing commercial relations, Demirer said that the visit of crown prince coincides with the Turkey’s plan to announce new incentives for foreign investors, especially for Gulf investors. “In fact, rapidly expanding trade and nascent foreign investment promise stronger economic links between the two G20 states — Saudi Arabia and Turkey — which are also the two prominent nations of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC),” he added.
He said that the “Turkish nation has cultural, historic and social ties with all nations in the region, particularly with the brotherly people of Saudi Arabia.” This partnership is a key in promoting and preserving “regional peace, security and stability,” he observed. In the spirit of their partnership, Turkey and Saudi Arabia cooperate closely on regional and international issues.
“This cooperation is today more relevant and crucial than ever,” said the diplomat, while commending the role of the Kingdom during the attempted coup in Turkey. Demirer recalled that Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman personally called Turkish President Erdogan, in the wake of the coup attempt, to express Saudi support and solidarity with Turkey.
Also on commercial front, the two countries have forged closer ties. The volume of Saudi investments in Turkey has reached $6 billion, mainly in the real estate sector. A representative of the Riyadh-based Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT) said that the trade deals between Turkey and Saudi Arabia amounted to $8 billion in 2015. He added that Ankara wants to increase Saudi investment to $25 billion and trade exchange to $20 billion by 2023.
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