RIYADH – Saudi Arabia and Turkey agreed on the need to set up a strategic cooperation council to strengthen military, economic and investment cooperation between the two countries, Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir said on Tuesday.
“The talks between Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were constructive, fruitful and positive. The two leaders expressed their desire to set up a high-level strategic cooperation council between the two countries," Jubeir told a joint news conference with his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu following talks between King Salman and Erdogan, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Al-Jubeir said the council will deal with a host of vital issues, especially in the fields of security, military, economy, trade, energy, investment, education, medicine and cultural affairs between the two countries.
“The council aims at realizing a qualitative leap in the strong bilateral relations between the Kingdom and Turkey in a way serving the interests of both countries and their people, in addition to contributing to maintain security, stability and prosperity in the region. The council will be managed by foreign ministers of the two countries with the participation of the officials from the ministries, organizations and other sectors.”
Al-Jubeir lauded the identical views of both the states in various political and security issues concerning the region. He also praised Turkey’s position, which is supportive to the Islamic Military Alliance in combating terrorism.
Referring to his talks with Çavuşoğlu, Al-Jubeir said: “We discussed ways to effectively counter terrorism and extremism, enhancing cooperation within the Islamic Alliance in this regard, besides countering the Iranian intervention in the affairs of the countries in the region. We also discussed the situations in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Libya,” he added.
Earlier, King Salman held talks with Erdogan at Al-Yamamah Palace here on Tuesday. The talks covered wide ranging issues, including further improving bilateral relations, and means of enhancing bilateral cooperation in various fields. They also discussed the latest developments on regional and international arenas.
The talks were also attended by Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior, Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Economy Mustafa Elitas and other high ranking officials from both sides.
