Turkey sent on Monday new positive signals to Saudi Arabia, offering to improve their relations according to a “positive agenda”.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman and adviser Ibrahim Kalin told Reuters in an interview that Turkey was seeking to improve relations with the Kingdom after the murder of Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in 2018.
Last year Saudi businessmen endorsed an unofficial boycott of Turkish goods in response, which has slashed the value of trade by 98%.
"We will seek ways to repair the relationship with a more positive agenda with Saudi Arabia as well," Kalin said, adding that he hoped the boycott could be lifted.
In a marked change of tone, he welcomed the trial in Saudi Arabia which last year jailed eight people for between seven and 20 years for Khashoggi's murder.
"They had a court. Trials have been held," Kalin said. "They made a decision so we respect that decision."
Kalin’s remarks are part a recently launched campaign by Turkey to restore relations with the Arab Gulf and Egypt and overcome disputes that have left Ankara largely isolated in the Arab world.
