Riyadh – Saudi King Salman met with Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu in Riyadh on Sunday.
They reviewed bilateral relations and discussed a number of topics of common interest.
The meeting comes after King Salman’s visit to Turkey, where regional and international issues were discussed in meetings between Turkish and Saudi officials.
The two countries have developed close relations in recent years on issues regarding the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Yemen.
According to Anadolu Agency the Turkish foreign minister also met with his Saudi counterpart in the Saudi capital Riyadh Sunday.
Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir discussed regional issues, the results of the 13th summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation held in April in Istanbul.
Cavusoglu and al-Jubeir discussed regional issues and implementation of Memorandum of Understanding between Turkey and Saudi Arabia
They also discussed the steps to be taken for the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding to promote ties in various domains.
The Turkish FM’s visit to Saudi Arabia comes shortly after Riyadh and Ankara signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create a high-level strategic cooperation council.
Cavusoglu told reporters in Riyadh that the Coordination Council mechanism took the Turkish-Saudi relations to a new level.
He said that within a short time, the two countries would constitute working groups in eight fields including “diplomacy, economy, tourism, defense industry and energy”.
Both the Turkish and Saudi FMs will be the council’s co-chairs to ensure the coordination.
“We think to gather the council once per year,” Cavusoglu said, adding that the meeting would be held once per year in Saudi Arabia and once in Turkey.
Speaking about regional issues, Cavusoglu said that Turkey supports the process in Yemen, and the new government in Libya, which is expected to take the confidence vote from the parliament.
Cavusoglu said that Turkey and Saudi Arabia must work closely for the stability and the security of these countries, including Syria.
The Turkish FM is visiting Saudi Arabia to attend a conference organized by the King Faisal Research Center and the Center for Islamic Studies to commemorate the late Saud FM Saud bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1940-2015).
Cavusoglu and his counterpart al-Jubeir also discussed the possibility of holding a ministerial level meeting between Turkey and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Source: News Agencies, 25 APRIL 2016