Turkey is seeking more cooperation with Saudi Arabia and other countries as it plans to be an energy hub to Europe, its finance minister said.
“Turkey from its geographical position is an energy corridor from Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Any kind of natural gas or oil that is going to be transported or shipped, will cost less and will be more safely shipped,” Nureddin Nebati told Arab News in an interview that was published on Sunday.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 6th edition of Future Investment Initiative forum in Riyadh, the minister said that cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Turkey will bring peace in the region.
“That peace will bring more affordable gas prices, the energy prices, and will allow both countries to look ahead,” Nebati added.
“In the incoming period, the cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Turkey will trigger, of course, new cooperation areas and with the vision of Saudi Arabia and Turkey’s 2023 vision, we will step out to a new century and will contribute to bringing peace and prosperity in the region,” he added.
Once regional rivals, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have gotten back on track as regional allies pursuing common agendas since leaders of both countries visited each other throughout 2022.
Nebati said that the recent exchange of visits by the Turkish President and the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “will be beneficial for both parties” and as a result investments, business relations, and trade volume in both directions will increase.
Since this summer, Turkey has been seeking a $20 billion deposit from Saudi Arabia in a bid to bolster its foreign currency reserves, but Riyadh was slow to grant the deposit, Middle East Eye reported, citing sources.
Speaking to TRT channel last week, Saudi Minister of Commerce Majed Al-Qasabi said that he estimated Saudi investments in Turkey to total $18 billion, and he expects to see around $3-5 billion in new investments over the coming period.
On October 21, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused the US of bullying Riyadh after the US President Joe Biden has vocally criticized Saudi Arabia over OPEC+ decision to reduce oil output by about 2 million barrels per day cornering the US government with higher gas prices, in a country with already rampant inflation.
Source: Gerçek News
