Riyadh announces joint strategic council with Ankara

Tuesday, 29 December 2015 9:25 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 30 December 2015 3:01 AM ]

A picture provided by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on December 29, 2015 shows Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir (R) meeting his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in the Saudi capital Riyadh. (AFP)

Saudi Arabia and Turkey have reached an agreement on setting up a "strategic cooperation council" to boost bilateral ties, says Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.

Jubeir made the announcement on Tuesday during a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, following a meeting between Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Riyadh.

"The meeting produced a desire to set up a high-level strategic cooperation council between the two countries," he said, noting that the council will address military, security, economic, trade, energy and investment between both states.

"The aim of this council is to bring about a qualitative transformation between Turkey and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia so they would be truly strategic and to serve the interests of the two countries and peoples," he added.

A picture provided by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on December 29, 2015 shows Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (R) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a welcoming ceremony in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

During the conference, Jubeir also said that the recent death of Zahran Alloush, the leader of the terrorist group calling itself Jaysh al-Islam, does not serve the peace process in Syria as he was a leading figure in the fight against Daesh.

On Friday, the Syrian army confirmed that Alloush and several other terrorist leaders were killed in an air campaign against terrorist hideouts in the Damascus countryside of Eastern Ghouta. Jaysh al-Islam, which is influenced by Wahhabism, is one of several Takfiri terrorist groups operating in Syria. According to SANA, the organization is armed and funded by Saudi Arabia.

According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), other senior Saudi royals and officials, including the kingdom’s crown prince, the deputy crown prince, and several Saudi ministers also attended the meeting between Salman and Erdogan. Erdogan’s visit to Saudi Arabia took place shortly after Riyadh announced the formation of an anti-terror military coalition compromised of 34 Islamic nations, including Turkey.

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