Istanbul: Turkish media outlets have revealed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan intends to pay an official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the 3rd of next month, followed by another visit to Egypt on the 4th, in a dual diplomatic tour that is the first of its kind in a long time.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the visit comes within the framework of strengthening bilateral relations and discussing common regional and economic issues, with a focus on deepening cooperation in the fields of energy, trade, and regional security.

During his first visit to Saudi Arabia, President Erdogan is expected to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, while his second visit to Cairo will include a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The Turkish media indicated that Erdogan will discuss a number of important issues with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, most notably: the joint defense alliance that includes Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey, as well as strengthening cooperation in the field of military and defense industries, and developments in the Gaza Strip.

This dual visit comes in the context of a noticeable improvement in Turkish-Saudi and Turkish-Egyptian relations in recent years, after a long period of tension.

It is worth noting that Saudi-Turkish relations have witnessed significant improvement since Erdogan’s visit to Riyadh in April 2022 and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Turkey in June 2022. This led to the signing of economic and investment agreements worth tens of billions of dollars, in addition to increased security and military cooperation.

The Turkish-Egyptian reconciliation process officially began in March 2021 with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlt €¡avusoglu’s visit to Cairo, followed by President Erdogan’s visit to Egypt in February 2023-his first visit to Cairo in over a decade. Since then, relations have progressed in the areas of energy, trade, and mediation in regional issues such as Libya and Sudan.

According to Turkish media, the visit is expected to focus on strengthening joint investments, cooperation in the energy sector, particularly gas and oil, coordinating positions on the Palestinian issue and the situations in Syria and Libya, as well as discussing ways to enhance bilateral trade, which has seen significant growth in recent years.