Turkey, Saudi Arabia to boost security cooperation

Turkey and Saudi Arabia on Friday agreed to increase cooperation in the fight against terrorism during a visit by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and First Deputy Prime Minister's visit to Ankara.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef had discussed bilateral ties and regional issues.

"Prime Minister Yildirim welcomes Saudi Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Nayef Bin Abdulaziz Al Saudi at an official ceremony"

Yildirim said the two nations would promote the "Turk-Saudi Coordination Council" within the body of foreign ministries and "institutionalise" ties after a visit to Turkey in April by Saudi King Salman.

According to sources, bin Nayef highlighted the "key role" of Turkey and Saudi Arabia's cooperation in regard to regional peace and security.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had later welcomed the Crown Prince to the Presidential Palace in Ankara.

Bin Nayef had also met with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

"These visits show the solidarity and support to Turkey, we thank him [bin Nayef] for this," Çavuşoğlu said.

Turkish-Saudi relations have been boosted after Erdoğan improved relations with King Salman following his attendance at the funeral of previous Saudi King Abdullah, in January 2015.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia have similar political stances on Syria, supporting moderate opposition groups against the Assad regime.

Relations were also strengthened with the emergence of the crisis in Yemen which led to Saudi Arabian military involvement in the country in order to prevent the Iranian-backed Houthi militants from taking over the whole of Yemen.