Crown prince’s Turkey visit gave peace efforts new impetus

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif, during his talks with top Turkish leaders in Ankara, highlighted the strong solidarity between the two allies and their keenness to bolster strategic partnership and regional peace.
After meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Thursday, the Crown Prince called Turkey a “brotherly country.”
He said the Kingdom seriously believes that there should be strong cooperation between the two countries because both need each other. Yildirim, on his part, said: the Kingdom and Turkey are not just brotherly countries, they are very important countries for the security and stability of the region.
During talks with the crown prince on Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan underlined the depth of bilateral relations, stressing that stronger cooperation between the two allies will open up more opportunities for the two countries’ peoples.
He said the crown prince's visit to Ankara during this critical time sends a strong message of Saudi solidarity with Turkey.”
In a show of support to Saudi Arabia, Erdogan condemned on Saturday a US Congress vote to override Barack Obama’s veto of a bill allowing 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia, saying he expected the move to be reversed as soon as possible.
“The allowing by the US Congress of lawsuits to be opened against Saudi Arabia over the 9/11 attacks is unfortunate,” Erdogan said in a speech for the opening of Parliament.
“It’s against the principle of individual criminal responsibility for crimes. We expect this false step to be reversed as soon as possible,” he added.
The visit saw the revival of the Saudi-Turkish Strategic Cooperation Council, which aims at strengthening strategic economic and investment cooperation between the two countries.
The council is important because it has the mandate to deal with security, military, economic, trade, energy and investment issues and further strengthen cooperation between the two countries.
The council was formed on April 14, during an official visit of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman to Turkey.
Saad Al-Suwaileh, an economic specialist and Riyadh-based entrepreneur, on Saturday welcomed the revival for the council, saying it is an important step toward the promotion of bilateral trade and investment.

Source: Arab News