Turkey and Saudi Arabia: ‘Walking Side by Side but Not Necessarily Toward the Same Destination’ Ankara and Riyadh deepen economic ties while quietly diverging on foreign policy and regional leadership By Giorgia Valente/The Media Line Saudi-Turkish relations in the years since the diplomatic rupture over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi have shifted from estrangement to […]
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The Media Line: Turkey and Saudi Arabia: ‘Walking Side by Side but Not Necessarily Toward the Same Destination’
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Turkey and Saudi Arabia: ‘Walking Side by Side but Not Necessarily Toward the Same Destination’
Ankara and Riyadh deepen economic ties while quietly diverging on foreign policy and regional leadership
By Giorgia Valente/The Media Line
Saudi-Turkish relations in the years since the diplomatic rupture over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi have shifted from estrangement to cautious recalibration. The brutal murder of the Saudi journalist inside Riyadh’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018 left a deep scar on bilateral ties, prompting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to adopt an unusually confrontational stance.
“Erdoğan was openly critical, but he also stressed that the crime took place on Turkish soil, and that couldn’t be ignored,” Jean Marcou, associate researcher at the French Institute of Anatolian Studies in Istanbul, told The Media Line.
The Khashoggi affair represented more than a diplomatic breakdown; it revealed underlying tensions over regional leadership, the role of political Islam, and Ankara’s efforts to position itself as a moral actor at a time when the Gulf was projecting consolidation.
“This crisis deteriorated the relationship significantly, especially given that Khashoggi went to the consulate to marry a Turkish woman—it wasn’t just political; it became personal in Turkish public opinion,” Marcou noted.
Today, the two countries appear to have moved well beyond that moment. In the lead-up to Erdoğan’s reelection in 2023, Ankara worked to mend ties across the Gulf, driven largely by a weakening domestic economy and the urgent need to attract foreign investment.
Erdoğan’s early post-election trip to Riyadh signaled the seriousness of this rapprochement.
“Turkey needed new investment—and fast,” Marcou explained, noting that normalization with Gulf states, starting with the United Arab Emirates and followed by Saudi Arabia, was part of a broader regional realignment.
“The Turkish economy was in a delicate phase. Gulf investment was not just welcomed—it was needed,” he added.
For Saudi Arabia, the shift was driven by shared opportunity.
“There’s a growing recognition in both capitals that they need each other,” said Abdulaziz Alshaabani, a Riyadh-based Saudi political analyst, to The Media Line.
“Economically, the investment potential is substantial; tourism, energy, and logistics are all on the table. Turkish companies are deeply involved in Gulf infrastructure, and Saudi funds are beginning to flow into Turkey again,” he added.
Despite renewed warmth in high-level visits and expanding economic ties, the two governments appear to be pursuing increasingly distinct trajectories in the region. Syria offers one such example.
Following the fall of Bashar Assad, a transitional period led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa has opened new diplomatic avenues across the region. In an effort to reestablish Syria’s standing, al-Sharaa has made successive visits to Gulf and regional capitals—first Riyadh, then Ankara—demonstrating both Saudi and Turkish influence in shaping Syria’s future.