Landmark defense deals are evidence of warmer Saudi-Turkish relations, experts say

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman shake hands during a welcome ceremony in Jeddah. (AP)
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Updated 21 July 2023
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Landmark defense deals are evidence of warmer Saudi-Turkish relations, experts say

  • They include a pivotal defense-cooperation pact and an agreement with Turkish defense equipment manufacturer Baykar for the supply of drones
  • Analysts predict further agreements and collaborations in military technologies such as drones and other high-tech, AI-driven systems are likely

ANKARA: Ties between Ankara and Riyadh are improving as the bilateral relationship continues to warm following the signing of a significant defense export deal, analysts say.

During his official tour of the Gulf this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a number of agreements with Saudi Arabia late on Monday, which many experts viewed as sending a signal about the future of defense cooperation between the two countries.

They included a pivotal defense-cooperation deal, and an agreement between the Saudi Ministry of Defense and Turkish defense equipment manufacturer Baykar for the supply of drones.

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman emphasized the important nature of these agreements, stating that they aim to enhance the readiness of the Kingdom’s armed forces and bolster the country’s defense and manufacturing capabilities.

Haluk Bayraktar, the CEO of Baykar, said the agreement was largest defense and aviation export contract signed by a Turkish company to date. His brother Selcuk Bayraktar is the chairman of the board at the company and its chief technology officer, and is Erdogan’s son-in-law.

Baykar is renowned for its Bayraktar TB2 drones, unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with laser-guided missiles that cost about the same as American and Israeli drones. As part of the deal, Turkiye will also export an undisclosed number of Bayraktar Akinci medium-altitude, long-endurance armed drones for use by Saudi air and naval forces.

The agreement also includes technology transfers and joint-production projects to help enhance the advancement of high-tech development capacities in both countries. Another deal is expected to be signed for the purchase of Turkish smart munitions and other payloads, with plans for them to be produced locally in the Kingdom.

“This significant development is surely the start of a new era in Turkish-Saudi relations,” Sine Ozkarasahin, a defense analyst at the Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (also known as EDAM), an independent think tank in Istanbul, told Arab News.

She believes that in future we can expect “more collaboration between Ankara and Riyadh in the defense industry, in segments such as air defense and missiles, but more prominently in smart weapons, such as autonomous and uncrewed systems and other (artificial intelligence-driven) technologies.”

She added: “Both countries are very invested in (research and development) in the military sector. As illustrated in their Vision 2030 document, the Saudis are currently one of the pioneering countries leading the AI breakthrough in the Middle East.

“Deals like this also demonstrate that they see the potential in Turkiye’s rapidly expanding defense-technological industrial base.”

In the past four years, Turkiye has been offering domestically developed and produced drones, particularly those manufactured by Baykar, for sale to friendly countries with which Ankara seeks to strengthen ties.

Armed Turkish drones, including the Bayraktar TB2, have proven effective in a number of conflict zones, including Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh.

The TB2 in particular has earned a deserved reputation as a highly capable and cost-effective platform, in the process playing a pivotal role in advancing and fueling the growth of the Turkish defense aeronautics industry.

Ukrainian forces used the flagship Turkish drone for strategic communication in the early stages of the conflict with Russia, and they were credited with helping to halt the Russian advance.

Between 2019 and 2023, Turkiye has signed agreements for the co-production of unmanned aerial vehicles with several countries, including Kazakhstan, Ukraine and now Saudi Arabia.

The Kingdom is the seventh nation to purchase Akinci drones from Baykar, and as the list of export clients grows, the latest agreement means that Turkiye has successfully expanded its drone sales to cover all of the wealthy Gulf monarchies. The deal with Riyadh also serves as a significant signal that relations between the two countries are improving.

Meanwhile, Baykar is developing an unmanned fighter jet, a project that highlights Turkiye’s continuing commitment to advancing its capabilities in the unmanned aviation sector.

Leo Peria-Peigne, a research fellow at the Security Studies Center of the French Institute of International Relations in Paris, said that after several years of chilly relations, ties between Riyadh and Ankara are warming, and Turkish authorities are actively seeking to use armaments agreements as part of this process, not only in dealings with the Kingdom but other countries such as the UAE and Egypt.

“Right after the end of the Kingdom’s blockade on Qatar, rumors emerged about a potential armaments contract between (Riyadh and Ankara), especially on UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), rumors that were used as a proof of an improvement in relations,” he told Arab News.

“Also, an armaments contract is also some kind of guarantee that both countries will keep good relations for a while, as most of the profit on these deals is made in training and maintenance services.”

As the Turkish economy struggles with hyperinflation, its defense industry provides an effective way to attract an influx of foreign currencies, Peria-Peigne said.

“Armament contracts are also used by Ankara to enhance its diplomatic attractivness and support its ‘seduction efforts,’ especially toward African and Central Asian countries,” he added.

Meanwhile, Peria-Peigne said, the knock-on industrial benefits to Saudi Arabia expected from such agreements will help the Kingdom diversify its economy in line with the aims of its Vision 2030 agenda, which calls for half of the nation’s military equipment to be manufactured locally by the end of the decade.


Gaza official says Israel strikes on hospital ‘terrifying’

Updated 18 sec ago
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Gaza official says Israel strikes on hospital ‘terrifying’

  • The area has been the focus of an intense air and ground campaign by Israeli forces since October 6, aimed at prevent Hamas from regrouping
Gaza Strip: An official from one of only two functioning hospitals in northern Gaza told AFP on Monday that Israeli forces were continuing to target his facility and urged the international community to intervene before “it is too late.”
Hossam Abu Safiyeh, director of Kamal Adwan hospital in the city of Beit Lahia, described the situation at the medical facility as “extremely dangerous and terrifying” owing to shelling by Israeli forces.
An Israeli military spokesman denied that the hospital was being targeted.
“I am unaware of any strikes on Kamal Adwan hospital,” he told AFP.
Safiyeh reported that the hospital, which is currently treating 91 patients, had been targeted on Monday by Israeli drones.
“This morning, drones dropped bombs in the hospital’s courtyards and on its roof,” said Safiyeh in a statement.
“The shelling, which also destroyed nearby houses and buildings, did not stop throughout the night.”
The shelling and bombardment have caused extensive damage to the hospital, Safiyeh added.
“Bullets hit the intensive care unit, the maternity ward, and the specialized surgery department causing fear among patients,” he said, adding that a generator was also targeted.
“The world must understand that our hospital is being targeted with the intent to kill and forcibly displace the people inside.
“We face a constant threat every day. The shelling continues from all directions... The situation is extremely critical and requires urgent international intervention before it is too late,” he said.
On Sunday, Safiyeh said he received orders to evacuate the hospital, but the military denied issuing such directives.
Located in Beit Lahia, the hospital is one of only two still operational in northern Gaza.
The area has been the focus of an intense air and ground campaign by Israeli forces since October 6, aimed at prevent Hamas from regrouping.
Most of the dead and injured from the offensive are brought to Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda hospitals.
The United Nations and other organizations have repeatedly decried the worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza, particularly in the north, since the latest military offensive began.
Rights groups have consistently appealed for hospitals to be protected and for the urgent delivery of medical aid and fuel to keep the facilities running.
Israeli officials have accused Hamas militants of using the hospitals as command and control centers to plan attacks against the military.
The war in Gaza broke out on October 7 last year after Hamas militants launched an attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 45,259 people, a majority of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, figures the UN says are reliable.

Some gaps have narrowed in elusive Gaza ceasefire deal, sides say

Updated 57 min 30 sec ago
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Some gaps have narrowed in elusive Gaza ceasefire deal, sides say

  • Palestinian official familiar with the talks said some sticking points had been resolved
  • But identity of some of Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in return for hostages yet to be agreed

CAIRO/JERUSALEM: Gaps between Israel and Hamas over a possible Gaza ceasefire have narrowed, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials’ remarks on Monday, though crucial differences have yet to be resolved.
A fresh bid by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the fighting and release Israeli and foreign hostages has gained momentum this month, though no breakthrough has yet been reported.
A Palestinian official familiar with the talks said while some sticking points had been resolved, the identity of some of the Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in return for hostages had yet to be agreed, along with the precise deployment of Israeli troops in Gaza.
His remarks corresponded with comments by the Israeli diaspora minister, Amichai Chikli, who said both issues were still being negotiated. Nonetheless, he said, the sides were far closer to reaching agreement than they have been for months.
“This ceasefire can last six months or it can last 10 years, it depends on the dynamics that will form on the ground,” Chikli told Israel’s Kan radio. Much hinged on what powers would be running and rehabilitating Gaza once fighting stopped, he said.
The duration of the ceasefire has been a fundamental sticking point throughout several rounds of failed negotiations. Hamas wants an end to the war, while Israel wants an end to Hamas’ rule of Gaza first.
“The issue of ending the war completely hasn’t yet been resolved,” said the Palestinian official.
Israeli minister Zeev Elkin, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet, told Israel’s Army Radio that the aim was to find an agreed framework that would resolve that difference during a second stage of the ceasefire deal.
Chikli said the first stage would be a humanitarian phase that will last 42 days and include a hostage release.
HOSPITAL
The war was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed more than 45,200 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.
At least 11 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on Monday, medics said.
One of Gaza’s few still partially functioning hospitals, on its northern edge, an area under intense Israeli military pressure for nearly three months, sought urgent help after being hit by Israeli fire.
“We are facing a continuous daily threat,” said Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital. “The bombing continues from all directions, affecting the building, the departments, and the staff.”
The Israeli military did not immediately comment. On Sunday it said it was supplying fuel and food to the hospital and helping evacuate some patients and staff to safer areas.
Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate northern Gaza to create a buffer zone, which Israel denies.
Israel says its operation around the three communities on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip — Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia — is targeting Hamas militants.
On Monday, the United Nations’ aid chief, Tom Fletcher, said Israeli forces had hampered efforts to deliver much needed aid in northern Gaza.
“North Gaza has been under a near-total siege for more than two months, raising the specter of famine,” he said. “South Gaza is extremely overcrowded, creating horrific living conditions and even greater humanitarian needs as winter sets in.”


Palestinians in Jenin observe a general strike

Updated 23 December 2024
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Palestinians in Jenin observe a general strike

  • The Palestinian Authority exercises limited authority in population centers in the West Bank

JENIN: Palestinians in the volatile northern West Bank town of Jenin are observing a general strike called by militant groups to protest a rare crackdown by Palestinian security forces.
An Associated Press reporter in Jenin heard gunfire and explosions, apparently from clashes between militants and Palestinian security forces. It was not immediately clear if anyone was killed or wounded. There was no sign of Israeli troops in the area.
Shops were closed in the city on Monday, the day after militants killed a member of the Palestinian security forces and wounded two others.
Militant groups called for a general strike across the territory, accusing the security forces of trying to disarm them in support of Israel’s half-century occupation of the territory.
The Western-backed Palestinian Authority is internationally recognized but deeply unpopular among Palestinians, in part because it cooperates with Israel on security matters. Israel accuses the authority of incitement and of failing to act against armed groups.
The Palestinian Authority blamed Sunday’s attack on “outlaws.” It says it is committed to maintaining law and order but will not police the occupation.
The Palestinian Authority exercises limited authority in population centers in the West Bank. Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Mideast War, and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state.
Israel’s current government is opposed to Palestinian statehood and says it will maintain open-ended security control over the territory. Violence has soared in the West Bank following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, which ignited the war there.


Qatari minister arrives in Damascus on first Qatar Airways flight since Assad’s fall

Updated 23 December 2024
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Qatari minister arrives in Damascus on first Qatar Airways flight since Assad’s fall

DUBAI: Qatar’s minister of state for foreign affairs arrived in Damascus on Monday on the first Qatar Airways flight to the Syrian capital since the fall of President Bashar Assad two weeks ago, Doha’s foreign ministry said.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson said Mohammed Al-Khulaifi was the most senior official of the Gulf Arab state to visit Syria since militants toppled the Assad family’s 54-year-long rule.


Iran foreign ministry affirms support for Syria’s sovereignty

Updated 15 min 24 sec ago
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Iran foreign ministry affirms support for Syria’s sovereignty

  • Assad fled Syria earlier this month as rebel forces led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) entered the capital Damascus

TEHRAN: Iran affirmed its support for Syria’s sovereignty on Monday, and said the country should not become “a haven for terrorism” after the fall of president Bashar Assad, a longtime Tehran ally.
“Our principled position on Syria is very clear: preserving the sovereignty and integrity of Syria and for the people of Syria to decide on its future without destructive foreign interference,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a weekly press briefing.
He added that the country should not “become a haven for terrorism,” saying such an outcome would have “repercussions” for countries in the region.
Assad fled Syria earlier this month as rebel forces led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) entered the capital Damascus after a lightning offensive.
The takeover by HTS — proscribed as a terrorist organization by many governments including the United States — has sparked concern, though the group has in recent years sought to moderate its image.
Headed by Ahmed Al-Sharaa, Syria’s new leader and an ardent opponent of Iran, the group has spoken out against the Islamic republic’s influence in Syria under Assad.
Tehran helped prop up Assad during Syria’s long civil war, providing him with military advisers.
During Monday’s press briefing, Baqaei said Iran had “no direct contact” with Syria’s new rulers.
Sharaa has received a host of foreign delegations since coming to power.
He met on Sunday with Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan, and on Monday with Jordan’s top diplomat Ayman Safadi.
On Friday, the United States’ top diplomat for the Middle East Barbara Leaf held a meeting with Sharaa, later saying she expected Syria would completely end any role for Iran in its affairs.
A handful of European delegations have also visited in recent days.
Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, which has long supported Syria’s opposition, is expected to send a delegation soon, according to Syria’s ambassador in Riyadh.