Sawt Falasteen - Turkey's Erdogan strikes drone deal with Saudi Arabia on Gulf tour

Erdogan, who won another five-year term in May elections, is seeking support for Turkey's faltering economy.

The Turkish leader arrived Tuesday evening alongside his wife Emine Erdogan in the capital of key ally Qatar ahead of a meeting with Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, according to Qatari state media.

His Saudi stop earlier saw the signing of several contracts, including the drone deal with the privately-owned Baykar, during a meeting between Erdogan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Red Sea port of Jeddah on Monday, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.

Haluk Bayraktar, CEO of the drone manufacturer which is co-run by one of Erdogan's sons-in-laws, in a tweet called the deal "the biggest defence and aviation export contract in the history of the Turkish Republic".

The value of the deal has not been made public.

After attending a Saudi-Turkish business forum in Jeddah on Monday, Erdogan and Prince Mohammed discussed "prospects for joint cooperation" in their meeting, SPA reported.

The two leaders signed cooperation agreements in the fields of energy, direct investment, defence and media, the report said.

It added that Saudi officials also signed "two contracts with the Turkish company Baykar".

Drones developed by Baykar have been used in Azerbaijan, Libya and Ukraine.

Saudi Arabia "will acquire drones with the aim of enhancing the readiness of the kingdom's armed forces and bolstering its defence and manufacturing capabilities", Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said on Tuesday.

- Riyadh rapprochement -

He did not specify the type of drone the kingdom is looking to procure.

An Arab diplomat in Riyadh, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the press, said it was Baykar's TB2 model.

Last month, Kuwait said it struck a $367-million agreement to procure TB2 drones.

This week's visit is Erdogan's second to Saudi Arabia since a recent rapprochement between Ankara and Riyadh, whose ties were strained by the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate.

Turkey angered Saudi Arabia by vigorously pursuing the case at the time, opening an investigation and briefing international media on the gory details of the killing.

But with ties on the mend, Erdogan visited Saudi Arabia in April 2022, and Prince Mohammed travelled to Turkey in June last year.

Erdogan's current Gulf trip comes as Turkey battles a currency collapse and soaring inflation that has battered its economy.

In March, Saudi Arabia deposited $5 billion in Turkey's central bank.

Following his stop in Qatar, Erdogan is set to travel to the United Arab Emirates, another oil-rich Gulf country with which Turkey recently mended ties.

C.Hamad--SF-PST