Riyadh: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will visit Saudi Arabia tomorrow, Sunday, to participate in the second meeting of the Turkish-Saudi Coordination Council in the capital, Riyadh.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the meeting will be co-chaired by Minister Hakan Fidan and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

The sources added that this will be Minister Fidan's third visit to the Kingdom in the past 12 months. Fidan is expected to express his satisfaction with the growing cooperation between the two countries in various fields and stress that Turkey aims to further increase its trade volume with Saudi Arabia, which is estimated to reach nearly $8 billion in 2024.

Fidan will emphasize that the strategic dialogue between the two countries contributes to regional peace and stability and that it is important to demonstrate solidarity against the challenges facing the Islamic world. He will emphasize that establishing a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and initiating reconstruction efforts are priorities.

Fidan is also expected to point out that lifting sanctions on Syria will contribute to accelerating the reconstruction process there and to emphasize that Turkey and Saudi Arabia's solidarity with the Syrian cause is encouraging to the international community. Fidan will also emphasize the need to halt Israeli attacks aimed at destabilizing Syria.

Ankara and Riyadh continue their cooperation on a number of regional issues, including joint efforts within the framework of the Gaza Contact Group of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League. The Turkish-Saudi Coordination Council is a cooperation and consultation mechanism established in 2016, chaired by the foreign ministers of the two countries, with the aim of monitoring bilateral relations within an institutional framework encompassing all aspects of cooperation.

The Council includes five subcommittees in which the relevant authorities from both countries participate, namely: the Diplomacy and Politics Committee; the Military and Security Affairs Committee; the Culture, Sports, Media and Tourism Committee; the Social, Health and Education Development Committee; and the Trade, Industry, Investment, Infrastructure and Energy Committee.