Saudi Arabia bought drones from Turkey during Erdogan’s visit Recep Tayyip Erdogan news

Erdogan also plans to visit Qatar and the UAE to improve ties with Gulf countries and secure trade deals.

Saudi Arabia has agreed to buy Turkish drones, one of several lucrative deals for the Turkish economy, which has benefited from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s latest diplomatic effort to restore ties with Gulf Arab states.

According to the Turkish Foreign Economic Relations Council, President Erdoğan visited Saudi Arabia on Monday accompanied by about 200 businessmen as part of a three-way tour.

Both countries have signed a number of memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in many areas, including energy, direct investment and defense industry.

Saudi Arabia’s state news agency SPA reports that Erdogan and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman participated in the signing ceremony between the Turkish defense company “Baykar” and the Saudi Ministry of Defense.

Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud tweeted on Tuesday that the kingdom’s armed forces will buy drones to boost their readiness, defense and production capabilities.

SPA did not provide details on the value of the deal.

Turkey’s economic difficulties

Erdogan’s visit comes at a time when Turks are suffering from sales and fuel tax hikes that Finance Minister Mehmet Şimsek said were aimed at restoring financial discipline and reducing inflation.

Official annual inflation stood at 38 percent, up from 85 percent in October last month.

Turkey’s current account deficit hit a record high of $37.7 billion in the first five months of this year, and Erdogan hopes the oil and gas-rich Gulf states will help fill the gap.

The Turkish lira weakened to a record low of 26.6 against the dollar on Tuesday, as investors turned their attention to the policy-setting meeting of central banks, which are expected to raise interest rates again on Thursday.

The lira lost 0.9 percent of its value against the US currency, compared with Monday’s level of 26.3505.

It has weakened by about 30 percent so far this year.

Turkey-Saudi rapprochement

Turkey recently restored ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates after a decade-long rift following the 2011 Arab Spring and Ankara’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood, seen as a threat by some Gulf monarchies.

The deterioration of relations worsened in 2017 when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain boycotted Qatar, a Turkish ally.

In 2018, the killing of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul caused further deterioration of relations with Riyadh. US intelligence agencies believe the killing was ordered by Prince Mohammed, a claim the kingdom denies.

Qatar and the UAE recently offered Turkey a roughly $20 billion currency swap deal, while Saudi Arabia deposited $5 billion with Turkey’s central bank in March.

Days after Erdogan was re-elected president last month, the UAE and Turkey signed a trade deal potentially worth $40 billion over the next five years.

Erdogan will meet Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha on Tuesday before visiting the UAE leader in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.