Riyadh: With the Biden administration’s lukewarm relations with Saudi Arabia, the latter is trying to end its differences with Turkey. The ties between Saudi Arabia and Turkey worsened in the aftermath of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing in 2018. A public campaign was run in Saudi Arabia to boycott the Turkish goods.
According to some news agencies, the Saudi leadership is trying to contact Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to iron out the differences between two countries.
According to Christian Devon of Arab Gulf States’ Institute, Washington, the new American policy seems to lean towards Iran and to review its policy towards Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia aspires for a role as a partner to solve conflicts in the region. After restoring ties with Qatar, the next goal of Saudi is to lessen tension with Ankara. In this regard, as a goodwill gesture, Saudi Arabia had released a number of prisoners. These actions amply indicate Riyadh’s policy shift.
It is to be noted that during the election campaign, the new President Joe Biden had said that the Trump administration had given too much leeway to Riyadh and he would make Saudi Arabia accountable.
However, the observers say that the Biden administration would adopt a moderate policy towards Riyadh as whatever be the circumstances, Saudi Arabia is a biggest ally of the USA in the region.
It is expected that the Biden administration would pressurize Riyadh Government on Human Rights. Saudi Arabia has recently released the woman activist of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia who had campaigned for women’s driving right in KSA.