Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman travelled to Turkey for the first time in years for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, aiming to fully normalize ties that were ruptured since 2018.

Erdogan welcomed Prince Mohammed yesterday, June 22, 2022, at the presidential palace in Ankara with a ceremony and the two shook hands and embraced, before being met by members of the Turkish cabinet.

In a statement following the talks, the two countries emphasized determination on ushering in a new period of cooperation in bilateral relations.

Mohammed Bin Salman visit comes as part of a tour that included stops in Egypt and Jordan earlier this week.

The trip is expected to bring “a full normalization and a restoration of the pre-crisis period”, a senior Turkish official told Reuters news agency. “A new era will begin.”