Turkey’s interior minister holds talks with Saudi counterpart in Riyadh

ANKARA

AA Photo

Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala has held a meeting with Saudi Arabian counterpart Mohammed bin Nayef in Riyadh during with the pair agreed to continue effective bilateral relations under Saudi Arabia’s new ruler, King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud.

The visit and the meeting were announced late on Feb. 15 in a written statement released by the Turkish Interior Ministry.

Ala and Bin Nayef discussed regional security problems, with a particular focus on Syria, Iraq and Yemen, and emphasized that bilateral cooperation on the issues should be strengthened, the statement said.

The two ministers agreed to continue the existing effective cooperation in every field, particularly in the fields of security, the fight against terrorism and intelligence under King Salman.

Ala extended an invitation to bin Nayef, who has been appointed by King Salman as the second heir, to visit Turkey, adding that Ankara was ready for cooperation in the fields of defense and the training of police and gendarmerie, which are part of his ministry’s portfolio.

“Bin Nayef is 55 and no stripling himself. But he has a reputation as a modernizer and is well versed in the ways of the west,” The Guardian said in a Jan. 23 article. “Governments in Washington and London admire him for his role as interior minister. Having previously been in charge of Saudi counterterrorist efforts, he survived a close-quarters assassination attempt by an al-Qaeda suicide bomber,” the daily added.