Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, received Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who chose Saudi Arabia as the first leg of his first tour of the region since his re-election for a third term in May.
Asharq Al-Awsat's headline of the visit read “Tour of Investment and Stability.” Will the tour only impact the economy? Presumably, no. We must note that the rhetoric in our region has changed due to Saudi initiatives. Now, the rhetoric is dominated by interests and building bridges. This demands political rapprochement that should be bound by interests, not ideology.
The Turkish president visited Saudi Arabia after Ankara had resolved disputes with Gulf countries, specifically with the Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. It is also resolving its disputes with Egypt. So, rapprochement must follow.
Ankara is underscoring this rapprochement. Erdogan wants Turkish companies to play a role in building major projects in Saudi Arabia as the Kingdom pursues its Vision 2030. This demands the language of interests, not empty words.
This will reflect positively on the entire region. We know there are destructive groups that are eyeing Erdogan’s visit to Saudi Arabia and the rapprochement with Egypt. However, there are also small and major investors that are monitoring the rapprochement.
For the business sector, and even small investors, prioritizing the language of interests and economic cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Türkiye are more important than the crisis in Ukraine or even the Turkish or Saudi stance on Syria.
Everyone, especially Saudi Arabia, is thinking from an economic angle. Putting it simply, the thought process should be: What can I gain and how will that impact me?
This is good because the Saudis are not operating according to ideological or expansionist interests. I am talking here about the citizen and investor, while the Saudi leadership, according to its Vision 2030, has committed itself to the path of reform and economic investment that demand building bridges with everyone.
So, Erdogan’s visit to Saudi Arabia is significant and different than previous ones. Today, Riyadh and Ankara know each other very well. They may have had differences in all files, but now their relations are on the right path.
This path is investment and prioritizing interests. This is necessary for our region, while one has to be wary of repeating past mistakes. The region doesn’t have the luxury of wasting time or investing in past investments.
This clearly means that our region doesn’t have the luxury of investing in groups and movements and running after slogans. If one doesn’t believe me, it’s enough to look around the region and the number of its failed states or states on the brink of collapse.
The Saudi-Turkish relationship is important and it must be based on the language of interests that would set the pace of the changes in our turbulent region, where disputes can erupt out of nothing.
