| Prince Abdul-Aziz Bin Talal: “We Prefer Turkey To Be The Regional Superpower” |
 Prince Abdul-Aziz Bin Talal Bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, who comes to Ankara as guest of the Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies (ORSAM), will pay a series of visits in Ankara until January 6th, in order to promote relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Prince, who firstly talked to Erşat Hürmüzlü, Chief Advisor to the President of Turkey in the Middle Eastern Affairs, and Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister of Turkey, İbrahim Kalın; also talked to Omer Celik, AK Party Deputy Chairman, and Melih Gökçek, Mayor of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality.
Prince Abdul-Aziz Bin Talal, who addressed students from the department of international relations and academicians during the meeting that was carried out with the joint cooperation of Bilkent University and ORSAM within the frame of his visits, informed about the Turkey-Saudi Arabia relations, and also about Saudi Arabia's perspective on the region. Stating that Turkey-Saudi Arabia relations are at a very good level in political terms, Prince indicated that there are many more opportunities for economic relations and cooperation by saying that “the door is there, but we need to find the key.” As for the question on whether Turkey's increasing role is perceived as a threat by Saudi Arabia, or not; “In Saudi Arabia, everybody is content with Turkey's increasing role, and if there is going to be a superpower in the region, Turkey is desired to be it,” he answered.
Concerning Iran, Prince Abdul-Aziz Bin Talal Bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud stated that “his country does not want to have problems with Iran, but that Iran's attitudes are not friendly, and that unfortunately they perceive threat from Iran”. Also touching on the process of Arab Spring that is developing in the Middle East, Prince Abdul-Aziz Bin Talal asserted his country's perspective by stating that, “we do not want chaos and violence in the region. We do not argue for collapse of the regimes either. If there is going to be a change, we want this change to be peaceful.” Although Prince is not for the regime change, he issued a call for dialogue to the parties by stating that “in Syria, the government should take some steps as well.”
|