Saudi Arabia agreed on Tuesday to buy Turkish drones in the biggest defence contract in Turkey’s history as President Tayyip Erdogan reaped the benefits of his diplomatic push to repair ties with Gulf powers and help Ankara’s struggling economy.
Erdogan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attended the signing ceremony between Turkish defence firm Baykar and the Saudi defence ministry, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.
Erdogan arrived in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah on Monday for the first stop of a Gulf tour.
Saudi Arabia will acquire the drones “with the aim of enhancing the readiness of the kingdom’s armed forces and bolstering its defence and manufacturing capabilities”, Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said in a tweet on Tuesday.
Joint production
Erdogan will travel to Qatar on Tuesday, the second stop of his first Gulf tour since being reelected in May. On Wednesday, he is due in the United Arab Emirates.
SPA said Erdogan and Prince Mohammed attended the signing of a defence cooperation plan by Prince Khalid and Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler.
Developing a local military industry has been part of an ambitious plan by Prince Mohammed to diversify the kingdom’s economy away from oil.
Baykar said in a separate statement that the agreement with Riyadh entails cooperation on technology transfer and joint production “in order to advance the high technology development capability of the two countries”.
The two countries also inked several memorandums of understanding in various sectors, including energy, real estate and direct investments, SPA said.
Last month, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek travelled to the UAE to discuss “economic cooperation opportunities” with counterparts, and they met President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Ankara said.
Turkey’s budget deficit surged to seven times the year-ago levels in June, data showed on Monday, while last month’s annual inflation was close to 40 per cent with the lira nearly 29pc weaker this year.
