Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed a number of bilateral, regional and international issues of concern during their meeting here on Tuesday. The issues which topped the agenda of talks were the Syrian crisis, terrorism, the anti-terrorism effort of the 34-member Islamic military alliance, which was set up by the Saudi Arabian leadership. Turkey and Saudi Arabia are eager to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis, Erdogan said in Ankara before leaving for the Kingdom. In a press briefing ahead of his visit, Erdogan said the visit will focus on issues pertaining to bilateral ties and means to develop them and a number of prominent issues, mainly the Syrian crisis. "A solution based on sustainable peace and justice is the need of the hour," Erdogan said. Earlier, Erdogan and his accompanying delegation were received at King Khalid International Airport by Prince Dr. Mansour Bin Miteb Bin Abdulaziz, minister of state, Cabinet member and adviser to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques; Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir; Minister of State and Cabinet Member Dr. Musaed Al-Aiban; and a number of officials. The Turkish president's last visit to Saudi Arabia was in March. Aiming at contributing to the preservation of regional and global peace and security, Turkish and Saudi foreign policy perspectives mutually support each other and create synergy, according to experts. Mutual high level visits between the two countries and the "High Level Strategic Dialogue Mechanism" which was established between Turkey and the GCC in 2008 have become the driving forces for mutually beneficial activities toward the region. After the global economic crisis in 2009, the Saudi-Turkish trade volume has recovered. The trade volume between the two countries reached $4.66 billion in 2010. The number of Turkish companies, in the contracting sector, which undertake huge projects in Saudi Arabia is increasing. Similarly, there is a growing interest in Saudi business circles to invest in Turkey. Saudi tourists visiting Turkey significantly increase every year since 2005. The recorded number of 84.000 Saudi tourists in 2010 is expected to rise considerably in 2011.
