Saudi prince visits Turkey for talks clouded by Khashoggi murder
Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler took a big step out of international isolation Wednesday, paying his first visit to Sunni rival Turkey since the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate.
The talks in Ankara between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan come one month before US President Joe Biden visits Riyadh for a regional summit. Those talks will focus on the energy crunch caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
President Erdogan's decision to revive ties with one of his biggest rivals is driven in large part by economics and trade.
Turks' living standards are imploding a year before a general election that poses one of the biggest challenges of Erdogan's mercurial two-decade rule.
It was his Islamic-rooted government that released gruesome details of the Khashoggi murder, including allegations that his body had been dismembered and dissolved in acid.
The Turkish leader personally welcomed the crown prince at his presidential palace at a grand ceremony featuring parade horses and a military honour guard.
Analysts believe Prince Mohammed will be looking to see if he can win broader backing ahead of a possible new nuclear agreement between world powers and Iran.
