Riyadh: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s move to strengthen diplomatic ties with Gulf countries is seeing success as Saudi Arabia agreed to buy drones from Turkey in the biggest defence contract between the two nations.
The historic deal was announced on Tuesday in the presence of Turkish president Erdogan and Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman at the signing ceremony between the Turkish defence company, Byakar, and the Saudi defence ministry, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.
While taking to the Twitter, Saudi defence minister Prince Khalid bin Salman emphasised on diplomatic ties between the countries after signing the contract.
“With the support of HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, I signed today a defence cooperation plan with HE Yaşar Güler, the Turkish National Defense Minister, in line with the military and defence cooperation efforts between our two friendly countries (sic),” he tweeted.
He further revealed that Saudi Arabia will acquire the drones “with the aim of enhancing the readiness of the kingdom’s armed forces and bolstering its defence and manufacturing capabilities.”
Meanwhile, Baykar CEO, Haluk Bayraktar tweeted and said that the move was the biggest defence and aviation export contract in Turkey’s history.
“We signed a contract with the Saudi Arabian defence ministry for the Bayraktar Akinci (unmanned combat aerial vehicle) export and cooperation,” he added.
Turkey and Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic relationship had strained after Ankara’s support for pro-democracy movements in the Middle East. Turkey also allegedly had given refugee to slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The Turkish leader arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday as part of a three-day Gulf tour to strengthen the ties.
President Erdogan earlier had a closed-door meeting with the Saudi crown prince at Al-Salam Royal Palace. After Saudi Arabia, Erdogan will visit Qatar and the United Arab Emirates
