Turkey sees positive developments in Saudi, UAE, Egypt ties, spokesperson says

Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin says that Ankara hopes to take positive steps in the course of relations with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt soon, Reuters reports.

“We could turn a new page with Egypt and Gulf countries for regional peace and stability,” Kalın said.

Relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia have been tense for years due to issues in foreign policy and their opposing views on how to deal with political Islam. They were further strained after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

READ: Turkey ready to re-establish relations with Egypt for the sake of regional stability

After an eight-year rift between Egypt and Turkey over Libya’s war and a dispute over the Eastern Mediterranean waters, Ankara and Cairo began talks in May in an effort to improve ties.

Ankara also wants to ease tensions with the UAE, which were strained when Turkey supported Qatar in a regional dispute which saw its Gulf neighbours launch a boycott of it.

Last week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and discussed investment in Turkey. He said if talks continue, the Emirates would make serious investments in Turkey.