Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has traveled to Saudi Arabia for the first time since the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey. Erdogan first arrived in the coastal city of Jeddah late on Thursday, Saudi state news agency SPA reported. Before leaving Istanbul, he spoke to journalists about a “new era of cooperation as two sister states”.
A program of the two-day visit was not initially published. According to Saudi government circles, Erdogan is due to meet with King Salman as well as the Crown Prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman. According to Turkish broadcaster TRT, he also wants to travel to the city of Mecca, which is sacred to Muslims. Millions of Muslims are currently celebrating the fasting month of Ramadan and will continue until early next week.