Erdogan set to receive King Faisal Prize
Published: Mar 7, 2010 00:08 Updated: Mar 7, 2010 00:08
RIYADH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah will hold talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who will arrive here on Monday to hold consultations and to receive the King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam, which is popularly known as the “Arab Nobel Prize.”
Erdogan will also inaugurate an exhibition on Jerusalem that is being organized by the Riyadh-based King Faisal Foundation on the sidelines of the award ceremony here Tuesday night.
Addressing a press conference here Friday night, Turkish Ambassador Ahmet Muhtar Gun said the summit talks “would focus mainly on regional and international issues with special reference to bilateral ties.” Gun gave an overview of bilateral relations and the joint efforts being exerted to solve important regional issues, especially the Middle East peace process. He said that Minister of Higher Education Khaled Al-Anqari would leave for Ankara on Sunday to discuss ways to boost cooperation in the education sector.
Asked about the subjects of the talks, Gun pointed out that King Abdullah and Erdogan will discuss the latest developments in the Middle East, especially the peace process, Palestinian reconciliation efforts, the Iranian nuclear program, Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq and many other regional and global issues.
The Turkish premier’s entourage including nearly 100 top-ranking officials, two ministers, many members of his family and some 40 newsmen, will arrive here on board a special flight on Monday.
Referring to the prize to be given to Erdogan, the diplomat said that the award is for the whole Turkish nation and Erdogan is to receive it on behalf of his country. The prize, given every year by the King Faisal Foundation, is presented to scientists and others who have created positive differences in the world and made contribution to Islam.
Asked about the new developments on the bilateral level, the ambassador said that the visit of the Turkish premier comes at a time when the two countries are also discussing the possibility of signing agreements for sentenced persons, extradition and judicial cooperation.
To this end, he noted that there are about 40 Turkish prisoners in Saudi jails at the moment. There are no Saudis in Turkish jails, he added.
The move to sign consular agreements are important keeping in view the fact that there are about 100,000 Turkish nationals currently living and working in the Kingdom.
Riyadh and Ankara, he said, had also set up a working group to forge close ties in energy sector. On commercial front, the two countries have closer ties with two-trade exceeding $5.5 billion annually. Gun, however, pledged to boost commercial relations further and achieve a target of $10 billion in trade within the next two years. On the regional level, Turkey was also discussing proposal to sign free trade agreement with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council.

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Mar 7, 2010 10:45
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