ANKARA (Staff Report) – Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud has arrived in Turkey on his historic trip to further strengthen the bilateral relationship between Riyadh and Ankara.
During the week-long trip, King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud will stay in two Turkish cities, Ankara and Istanbul, and for his movement in these cities Turkish government has arranged five hundred sophisticated vehicles such as Mercedes, BMW and Audi cars.
King is staying in a 450 square-meter suite in Ankara’s five star hotel. Interestingly, bullet proof windows further reinforced by bomb-resistant cement have also been installed at the suite.
Moreover King’s personal luggage is also said to have been transported to Turkey through cargo planes.
Prior to arrival of Saudi monarch, around 300 Saudi officials, including King’s personal guards, had arrived in Ankara to make arrangements of his accommodation and oversee the security issues.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan personally reached at Ankara Airport to welcome Salman bin Abdulaziz. Erdogan, reportedly, traveled to the airport without any presidential protocol.
A special contingent of Turkish armed forces also presented Salman bin Abdulaziz with guard of honour at the airport.
Visit’s Main Focus:
The visit is expected to mainly focus on defence ties of two countries, in a scenario where Turkey and Saudi Arabia are two key Muslim countries leading war against the Islamic State militant group.
In February this year, Saudi jets had arrived at Turkey’s Incirlik airbase while Ankara had also accepted Riyadh’s offer to join a 34-country military alliance against terrorism. The two countries are considered as key partners to a move to oust Syria’s President Bashar al-Asad as well.
To take up all these matters, King Salman would hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday at his presidential palace in Ankara.
Apart from meeting with Erdogan, Saudi King will also attend the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Istanbul on Thursday and Friday, where he is expected to call the all member countries to join Saudi-led military alliance against terrorism.
It also relevant to be mentioned here that Salman bin Abdulaziz’s Turkey visit comes after his trip to Egypt – ruled President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and has disturbed ties with Turkey- which is an indication that Saudi King, during the tour, may also try to mend ties between Ankara and Cairo.
