ANKARA — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Saudi Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman at the Presidential Palace in Ankara on Tuesday. During the meeting, Erdogan and Prince Khalid bin Salman reviewed bilateral relations between the two countries and ways to further enhance them. They discussed the issues and the latest developments in the regional and international arenas and the efforts made towards addressing them. Prince Khalid conveyed the greetings of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman to Erdogan. He wished progress and prosperity to the government and people of Turkiye. On his part, Erdogan extended his greetings to King Salman and the Crown Prince. The meeting was attended by Director General of the Office of the Minister of Defense Hisham bin Abdulaziz bin Saif, Turkish Minister of National Defense Yaşar Guler, President of the Turkish Defense Industry Agency Prof. Haluk Gorgun and a number of senior officials. Earlier on the day, Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler received his Saudi counterpart in an official ceremony at the headquarters of the Turkish Ministry of Defense, where they had a bilateral discussion session, followed by another at the delegation level. Their discussions focused mainly on strengthening defense cooperation between Turkiye and Saudi Arabia. Prince Khalid bin Salman and his accompanying delegation arrived in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Tuesday for an official visit, following the directives of the Saudi leadership. Upon the arrival at Ankara's Esenboga Airport, the Saudi minister was accorded a warm welcome by President of the Turkish Defense Industry Agency Prof. Haluk Gorgun, along with several high-ranking officials. During the current visit, Prince Khalid will engage in a series of meetings aimed at discussing bilateral relations, enhancing cooperation between the two friendly countries, and addressing matters of mutual interest. It is noteworthy that there has been tremendous progress in the bilateral relations between the two countries recently. Several Saudi and Turkish companies concluded agreements and memorandums of understanding in the field of defense industries in Riyadh in August 2023, with the aim of localizing the manufacturing of drones and their component systems within Saudi Arabia. The series of agreements and memorandums of understanding concluded between Saudi and Turkish companies came after a cooperation agreement concluded by Baykar with the Saudi Ministry of Defense during the visit of Erdogan to Saudi Arabia in July last year. Baykar is a Turkish private defense company, which manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles. The signing ceremony held in Riyadh then was attended by high-level Saudi and Turkish officials. Senior Turkish officials included President of the Turkish Defense Industry Agency Prof. Haluk Gorgun, Director General of Baykar Haluk Bayraktar, General Director of ASELSAN Ahmet Akyol and General Director of Roketsan Murat Ekinci, who represented leading Turkish companies specialized in defense industries. Baykar, a company specialized in the production of drones, signed an agreement with the Saudi Military Industries Company in the field of local production and technology transfer. A ASELSAN and Roketsan also signed memorandums of understanding with the Saudi Mechanical Systems Company to carry out technology localization activities.
