President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Saudi King Salman on Tuesday discussed bilateral relations and regional issues during meetings in Riyadh. Erdoğan and Salman discussed the importance of coordination between the two countries in dealing with regional issues during critical times, highlighting their friendly and strategic partnership, presidential sources said.

High-level strategic cooperation council

Turkey and Saudi Arabia reached an agreement on the establishment of a high-level strategic cooperation council, sources added. Riyadh and Ankara agreed to set up a strategic cooperation council to strengthen military, economic and investment cooperation between the two countries, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said later on the same day. "The meeting produced a desire to set up a high-level strategic cooperation council between the two countries," Jubeir told a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu after talks in Riyadh. He said the council will deal with security, military, economy, trade, energy and investment between the two countries. Meanwhile, Turkey supports a Saudi-led initiative to fight terrorism and will take part in it, Çavuşoğlu said. "As Turkey, we are supporting the Islamic cooperation initiative by Saudi Arabia against terrorism," said Çavuşoğlu. He added Turkey will take part in "all steps of this mechanism." On Dec. 15, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that 34 Sunni Muslim countries had agreed to form an anti-terrorism alliance to be headquartered in Riyadh. According to the SPA, the coalition was formed within the framework of a previous anti-terrorism agreement signed by Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states. Along with Saudi Arabia, the coalition reportedly includes Pakistan, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Turkey, Tunisia, Djibouti, Sudan, Palestine, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Malaysia, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania and Yemen, in addition to 13 African states. Çavuşoğlu said: "We will continue to be in solidarity against terrorism and rising Islamophobia."

'Solution for the Syrian conflict cannot include Bashar Assad'Erdoğan and Salman also discussed economy, trade and energy issues in addition to the recent events in Syria, Iraq and Yemen while agreeing on the strengthening of bilateral relations and highlighting the overlap in both countries' opinions on regional issues, including anti-terrorism policies. The two leaders underscored that a solution for the Syrian conflict cannot include Syrian President Bashar Assad. After the meetings held at Al-Yamamah Palace by the delegations, Erdoğan also held meetings with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif and Crown Attorney Mohammed bin Salman. Despite remaining in the same position in the almost five-year conflict of Syria through supporting opposition groups, bilateral relations have been at stake for a period regarding developments in Egypt.The rift between the Saudi government and Ankara first surfaced when the Egyptian army, led by then general and current president, Abdul-Fatah el-Sissi, toppled Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, in 2013. The two countries differed in whom they supported and the ties between the two countries frayed as a result. The Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) alignment with the Muslim Brotherhood leader was not welcomed by the Saudi government, which considers the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. Despite the rift over this regional issue, Erdoğan said that dissent should not adversely impact the ties between the two in a bid to prevent relations from souring. Although relations did not explicitly deteriorate, greater distance could be felt.Attempts to recover relations were first unveiled when Erdoğan attended the funeral for late King Abdullah in January. As soon as Saudi officials announced the king's death, Erdoğan suspended his African tour for a day and traveled to Saudi Arabia. A day of mourning was also declared in Turkey on the Saturday following Abdullah's death. These gestures were perceived to be indications that Turkey was eager to leave political disagreements aside and foster closer bilateral relations.Since Abdullah's death on Jan. 23, 2014, Ankara and Riyadh have continued to maintain strong relations with the new king. Erdoğan visited Saudi Arabia in early March in what was described by political analysts as an attempt to mend relations with both countries' leaders having shown their willingness to put political disagreements aside to foster better bilateral relations. Since Erdoğan's last visit, the ongoing threat and terror attacks by DAESH have continued throughout the region, and with this item on the agenda, the two leaders will address ways to stand against terrorist organizations.