Saudi, Turkish foreign ministers discuss ties

Cairo: Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal Bin Farhan and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu have met in the Saudi holy city of Mecca, reported Saudi media, as Ankara bids to mend ties with the kingdom.

The talks, the highest of their level between the two countries since 2018, tackled bilateral ties as well as major regional and international issues, the Saudi news agency SPA reported without details.

Cavusoglu arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday for a two-day visit, a week after Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a phone conversation.

In recent years, ties have soured between Saudi Arabia and Turkey, particularly following the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul amid calls for boycotting Turkish goods.

Turkey has recently showed interest in improving relations with the Arab world.

Last week, senior Egyptian and Turkish officials met in Cairo in an attempt to end a long-standing dispute between the two countries.

Tensions have grown between Egypt and Turkey since 2013 when the Egyptian army deposed Islamist president Mohammed Mursi, an ally of Erdogan, following mass street protests against his divisive rule.