Turkey–Saudi Arabia relations

Turkey and Saudi Arabia are the two most important countries of the Sunni Islamic world. Regional and global developments bind the fate of these two countries together. What happens in one inevitably affects the other. A threat directed at one is directed straight at the other too, and affects it as well.

A positive development in one of the two countries is reflected positively in the other. For that reason, strategically, these two countries have no choice but to hold on to one another, regardless of the leaders at the top.

However, the policies of those who govern the countries, and the attitudes of the media that follow and interpret those policies, can affect this strategic relationship, or, even where they cannot affect it, can present a different picture. Very often there can be clear gaps between what the media reflects and the real world.

It is not possible to say that the image of Turkey reflected in the Saudi media, and the image of Saudi Arabia reflected in the Turkish media, are encouraging these days. Looking at the media alone, one would think there are serious, insurmountable problems between the two. Yet at the same time, relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia continue to develop at the highest level. Of course, we must not leave wide room for media reflections to create new knots between the peoples of the two countries. For that, it may be useful to review the current state of relations between the two countries in all its openness, in the presence of the media representatives of both countries.

To this end, the "Turkey-Saudi Arabia Media Meeting" organized by the Directorate General of Press and Information (BYEGM) brought Turkish and Saudi journalists together. Both Turkey's Ambassador to Riyadh, Mr. Erdoğan Kök, and Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to Ankara, Walid Abdulkarim el-Khreici, attended along with all their embassy and consulate teams. Walid el-Khreici is a diplomat and a friend of Turkey who genuinely makes it his concern to develop relations between the two countries and to correct the perception problems between them. Every time we meet, he says he suffers from the false news reflected in the media of both countries. He works with all sincerity to correct this.

In his speech at this meeting too, he gave striking examples of the news reported in the Turkish media about Saudi Arabia:

"For example, the reports about the level at which Saudi Arabia took part in both extraordinary Islamic Summits on Jerusalem in Istanbul were interpreted as if there were a distance between the two countries. It was even interpreted as meaning that it did not give the necessary importance to the first Summit and to Turkey.

Yet the person who attended the summit was precisely the minister responsible for the affairs of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and he was more suitable for this meeting than the Foreign Minister, and his being preferred was a sign that Saudi Arabia attached the highest importance to this meeting. But it was reflected differently. Even so, taking these criticisms into account, the latest Summit was attended at the level of the Foreign Ministry, which is in fact less important. Moreover, the reason King Salman could not attend in person on the day of the first Summit was that it coincided with the opening of the Consultative Council, which takes place once a year. That meeting was also very important."

To make the situation better understood, Khreici pointed to the example of President Erdoğan, who last year did not attend an Islamic Summit held in Saudi Arabia, citing his Party's Congress. He added that nobody thought the President did not give importance to that meeting.

In this dialogue, which managed to consider the formation of perceptions in both countries together, one more thing was accomplished. Starting from the acceptance that, together with the reasons for such reflections of relations between the two countries in the media, there is ultimately also an area that is not free of problems, these problem areas were discussed as well.

Truly, relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, during the AK Parti era, were on a continuous course of improvement until the military coup in Egypt in July 2013. On top of the split the two countries fell into over the Egyptian military coup, the split over the Qatar issue last year was added, and it was no longer possible for relations to continue as if nothing had happened, all roses and sweetness. In fact, although Turkey, through its clear stance against the bloody military coup in Egypt, differed from Saudi Arabia in attitude and policy, it made a very intense effort so that this difference would never become a factor negatively affecting relations between the two countries. It considered it possible and attached importance to continuing cooperation in other fields, even though the Egyptian military coup had directly harmed Turkey's interests.

Meanwhile, it is a fact that relations became strained once and for all with the stance Turkey displayed in the Gulf crisis over Qatar last year. Saudi Arabia openly stated that Turkey, with this pro-Qatar attitude, had lost its position as mediator between the two. For this reason, the Saudi media publishes pieces that raise the dose of criticism, even attacks, against Turkey every day.

It is very clear that in these criticisms Turkey's position and attitude are not sufficiently well understood. From the outset, Turkey stated that the stance it took to defend Qatar in this crisis was not an anti-Saudi stance. Those who expect neutrality from Turkey must appreciate that, in order to be able to display this neutrality, the two sides must survive in proportion. A large party determined to annihilate one side completely had to be prevented first. Only then is mediation possible, to talk through their problems and reach a solution. Once one of the parties has been destroyed, there is no situation left for mediating, nor for displaying neutrality.

What Turkey is doing is preventing the quarrel between brothers from leading irreversibly to lawlessness. Had Turkey not done this, perhaps others far removed from our religion, our culture and our geography would have aspired to this role at great cost. Everyone should remember what the protection they extended to Kuwait against Iraq led to in our region.

There are many factors affecting Turkey-Saudi relations: the US, Iran, Qatar, Egypt, the Brotherhood and History, as we can classify them. Let us look closely at these factors in our next article.