Erdoğan to visit Saudi Arabia to discuss changes in Riyadh’s regional policy

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected to pay a four-day official visit to Saudi Arabia to hold bilateral talks with the newly enthroned King Salman, who ascended to the throne when King Abdullah passed away on January 23.

Claims circulating in the Arab media, say that King Salman will also pay his first official visit abroad to Turkey in the near future as both leaders are known for their close relations.

Even though experts do not expect a major change in the country's policies under King Salman's rule, they anticipate that Saudi Arabia will review its stance on certain regional issues.

On Erdoğan's visit to Riyadh, political analysts studying the Middle East and Gulf countries highlighted the regional impacts of recovering relations between the countries.

Burhanettin Duran, the general coordinator at the Foundations for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) told Daily Sabah that the visit comes at the same time that King Salman is expecting amendments in the Arab country's policies toward the region.

Duran said that developing relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey, Saudi Arabia shifting its policy on the Muslim Brotherhood and efforts to fortify moderate Syrian opposition groups creates a suitable atmosphere for close cooperation between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. in the region.

He said that Ankara wants to see a softening in the Saudi Arabia's position on Muslim brotherhood.

Nebahat Tanrıverdi, who conducts studies on Egypt at the Ankara-based Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies (ORSAM), said that she does not expect a change in Saudi Arabia's policies on the Muslim Brotherhood.

"Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates [UAE] will continue their policies to encircle the Muslim Brotherhood," Tanrıverdi said, noting that Saudi Arabia supports the current Egyptian coup regime both economically and militarily and she sees no sign that this policy will change in the near future.

Erdoğan's visit is seen as an indicator of recovering relations between Ankara and Riyadh that first surfaced when Erdoğan attended the funeral for late King Abdullah in January, suspending his African trip to head to the Saudia Arabia. As soon as the death of King Abdullah was announced by Saudi officials, Erdoğan suspended his African tour for a day and attended the funeral. Also, a day of mourning was declared in Turkey on the Saturday following the death of the Saudi king. These steps are perceived as gestures by Turkey that is eager to leave political disagreements aside and foster better bilateral relations.

Returning from his African tour, Erdoğan stressed that his attendance at the king's funeral and the declaration of the one day of mourning was to show the importance the government attached to bilateral relations. "There are topics that we agree on. On Egypt,as well as on Syria and Palestine there are issues where we don't see eye to eye. We don't want such differences to cloud bilateral ties," he said on Monday.

Erdoğan also said that he is hopeful about Saudi Arabia's changing negative stance on the Muslim Brotherhood without prejudgments. He said: "Everyone should wait and see what King Salman does. I personally would like to go and visit him and wish him well within the next week or 10 days," and noted the urgency of working together for the unity of the Muslim world "As King Salman said, we need to work together to ensure there is unity and cooperation in the Muslim world. Turkey and Saudi Arabia need to work together."