Written by Staff Writer, Neil French, CNN London
As Saudi Arabia’s King Salman undergoes medical tests, his Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman is making a four-day visit to Turkey to talk up Saudi’s “new order” while looking to partner with one of its rivals for regional influence, Saudi rival Qatar.
Between the two cities — separate by just 300 kilometers — lie vast tracts of riven land, rich in resources but politically explosive as well.
Before Iran annexed the city of Najran (then Najaf), the war — known as the Battle of Najran in Saudi Arabia — brought together mighty armies from Egypt and Persia, who were battling over the two smaller Arabian kingdoms under assault. The jihad across Arabia led to the formation of the Bedouin tribes of the desert.
Turkey and Iran are rarely so positively united
The role of Qatar — accused by Saudi Arabia of financing a terrorist group, Iran-aligned Hizb ut-Tahrir, and abetting terrorism by hosting a U.S. military base — was thought to be one Saudi diplomacy at this point would shy away from.
Achieving international stability is a four-year project. Saudi Arabia believes it has kept Saudi Arabia safe for 600 years while under the rule of late King Abdul Aziz.
Mohammad bin Salman ‘prepares ground’ for presidency
It is always easy to get the Saudis and Israelis together. The Israelis feel they are an occupied state and the Saudis feel they are colonized by the Israelis. Perhaps neither country has ever invited the other in for coffee — but it is always a step in the right direction.
In the long term Saudi Arabia needs better relations with the Turkish people, whose presidency it currently helps oversee. Until the 20th century, the once-in-the-blue sword cutters on the backs of Ottoman Cadillacs were called the khans or Caliphates. ISIS therefore uses the old flag of the Ottoman sultanate to justify its atrocities.
But a Prince Mohammad visit to Turkey is not only a chance to bridge political divides between the states but to identify a way forward for Sunni and Shiite Islam, let alone the whole of the Middle East.
It is always easy to get the Saudis and Israelis together. The Israelis feel they are an occupied state and the Saudis feel they are colonized by the Israelis. Perhaps neither country has ever invited the other in for coffee — but it is always a step in the right direction.
The prospect of the establishment of a pan-Sunni neighborhood, if it were ever to come to pass, is positive as opposed to, let’s say, the most negative thing in the universe
While it is always easy to get the Saudis and Israelis together. The Israelis feel they are an occupied state and the Saudis feel they are colonized by the Israelis. Perhaps neither country has ever invited the other in for coffee — but it is always a step in the right direction.
The prospect of the establishment of a pan-Sunni neighborhood, if it were ever to come to pass, is positive as opposed to, let’s say, the most negative thing in the universe.
A relationship between Iran and Turkey would deal a blow to the U.S. and help replace the pro-Western Sunni states in the neighborhood with governments that have the backing of Iran and Russia. These rival powers have already produced powerful regional institutions — something which has the US concerned.
Saudi Arabia doesn’t need to invite Turkey, it needs Turkey to help it defeat ISIS. That is the quiet diplomacy. The noisy diplomacy is necessary, but for it to work you need to convince your neighbors that they will come to their own decision, something that’s being done a lot less well than I thought.