The visit to Riyadh of Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan amid political upheavals in the Middle East is a broad hint that Turkey and Saudi Arabia are both influenced by the regional tensions.

Political analysts are less doubtful of the fact that over the recent years Ankara and Riyadh have been greatly destabilizing the Middle East. However, their fickle policies have not resulted in a peaceful region.
The two countries’ involvement in regional crises has also forced them to put on the agenda depiction of bilateral cooperation prospect in every formal trip slated.
It sees that this time, being no exception, the two sides will focus on key themes such as Syria, Iraq, economic concerns, Iran’s and Russia’s positive intervention in the Syrian crisis, Riyadh-Cairo relationship, Turkey’s fear of regional future developments, the Yemeni war, and the handling of Daesh by the Persian Gulf Arab states.
Among the aforesaid issues, Russia’s presence in Syria and the changed security and military face of the region have, more than anything else, made the two countries worried. Moreover, insistence of the two countries’ Western allies on the necessity to battle Daesh and other terrorist groups has intensified their worries.
Meaningful variations in economic indexes of Saudi Arabia and Turkey in recent years have forced the two countries ponder over their situations more and more. This is evidenced by a fall in touristy visits and domestic unrest in Turkey and sapping of oil revenues in Saudi Arabia due to plunging oil prices. That is why the Saudi kingdom has been reconsidering its economic budgeting in the form of putting deficit-related policies in perspective.
In such a situation that Saudis and Turks are being surrounded by numerous cost-effective challenges and continue to threaten the neighboring states, it is quite natural that they have to pay even more.
Moreover, the increasing isolation of Turkey and Saudi Arabia are a result of world powers’ changed outlooks to the regional events. An attempt by Saudi opportunists to convene Syrian opponents at one table shows the hasty nature of their policies.
In practice, such gatherings have brought about nothing positive for the Arab country as no wise and tangible outcome has been achieved yet.
More importantly, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are seeing themselves being trapped in a regional security and political quagmire. Meanwhile, the only option for the countries will be cooperation with involved states otherwise a bitter fate will await both.
It will be too early to hail Erdogan’s trip to Riyadh, irrespective of any possible breakthrough, a victory due to the widespread nature of the regional crises the two countries are involved in.
The international consensus on uprooting terrorist groups in the Middle East comes as a blow to the two countries’ regional ambitions. Even if Erdogan’s trip turns out to produce positive economic and political outcomes, the influence will be passing as challenges are intrinsically too wide!