President Erdogan Meets Crown Prince Of MBS: Saudi Arabia Buys Drones, Turkey Records The Largest Defense Export Contract Record

JAKARTA - Saudi Arabia on Tuesday agreed to buy Turkish drones in the largest defense contract in Turkish history, when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Riyadh to improve relations and meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).

President Erdogan and Prince MBS attended a signing ceremony between Turkish defense firm Baykar and Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defense.

Saudi Arabia will acquire drones "with the aim of increasing the readiness of the royal armed forces and strengthening its defense and manufacturing capabilities," Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman tweeted.

The SPA did not provide details on the value of the deal, but Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar said it was the largest defense and aviation export contract in Turkish history.

"We signed an export agreement and Bayraktar Trypta cooperation with the Ministry of Defense of Saudi Arabia," he wrote on Twitter.

Gururluyuz!Ülkemiz için önemli bir ihracat ve iş birliği sözleşmesini daha başarıyla tamamladık.Baykar ile Suudi Arabistan Savunma Bakanlığı (@modgovksa) arasında gerçekleştirilen Bayraktar #AKINCI TİHA ihracat sözleşmesini imzaladık.Milli TİHA Bayraktar #AKINCI, Suudi… https://t.co/5OmzFj92u1 pic.twitter.com/0t3FpQgXlv

— BAYKAR (@BaykarTech) July 18, 2023

Gururluyuz!Ülkemiz için önemli bir ihracat ve iş birliği sözleşmesini daha başarıyla tamamladık.Baykar ile Suudi Arabistan Savunma Bakanlığı (@modgovksa) arasında gerçekleştirilen Bayraktar #AKINCI TİHA ihracat sözleşmesini imzaladık.Milli TİHA Bayraktar #AKINCI, Suudi… https://t.co/5OmzFj92u1 pic.twitter.com/0t3FpQgXlv

"UCAV Bayraktar AKINCI T\"urkiye will be part of the Saudi Arabian Royal Air Force and Navy inventory," he wrote in a separate tweet.

The SPA said President Erdogan and Prince MBS attended the signing of a defense cooperation plan by Prince Khalid and Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler.

It is known, developing a local military industry has been part of Prince MBS' ambitious plans to diversify the kingdom's economy from oil.

"Both countries also signed several memorandums of understanding in other sectors including energy, real estate and direct investment," said SPA.

It said investment and funding from the Gulf had helped reduce pressure on Turkey's economy and its currency reserves since 2021, when Ankara launched diplomatic efforts to improve relations with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Turkey is known to have clashed for years with the two Gulf countries over Ankara's support for the pro-democracy movement in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.