TIME HEALS ALL WOUNDS?

Saudi Crown Prince Travels to Turkey for First Time Since Khashoggi’s Murder

The meeting between Prince Mohammed bin Salman and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan comes amid dire financial straits caused by the Ukraine invasion.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Turkey on Wednesday for the first time since the 2018 murder of a Washington Post contributor by Saudi agents in Istanbul. The death of Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent critic of the prince, prompted international outrage, causing Turkey and other countries to turn their backs on Saudi Arabia. But amid dire financial straits caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, nations like Turkey and the U.S. have begun to soften their stance towards the oil-rich Middle Eastern kingdom. The Wednesday meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan—who considered Khashoggi a friend, according to The Washington Post—comes a month ahead of a scheduled visit to Saudi Arabia by U.S. President Joe Biden. Mohammed and Erdogan greeted one another outside Turkey’s presidential complex, The New York Times said, shaking hands as a band played. In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the pair announced their intention to begin “a new period of cooperation.”