Saudi Crown Prince Visit to Turkey Raises Questions

Speaking in Ankara after meeting with Saudi Crown Prince and First Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad bin Nayef on Thursday, Binali Yildirim said Ankara and Riyadh are to scale up their cooperation in what he said is 'counter-terrorism' operations. Yildirim suggested that there would be greater promotion of the Turk-Saudi Coordination Council.
 
Saudi Power Struggle
 
Nayef's visit to Turkey comes against a backdrop of an intensifying power struggle between him and Deputy Crown Prince and Minister of Defense Mohammed bin Salman whose father is the reigning monarch in the kingdom. Over the last few months Bin Salman has made several trips abroad while the Nayef, by virtue of his position is the one expected to represent the kingdom in international meetings.
 
The meteoric rise to power of bin Salman has already been noted both internally and internationally. He seems to be engaged in deliberate attempts to eclipse his cousin bin Nayef who is also determined to reassert himself as the heir apparent and this visit to Turkey can also be viewed within this framework. The Saudi King Salman, enormous power has vested much power in his son to the detriment of Nayef and this is having an impact in regional politics.
 
Riyadh, Ankara collaborating in killing Syrians
 
Nayef’s two-day visit comes after Turkey, in violation of the international laws, established a hospital in Jarablus city, northern Aleppo, and hoisted the Turkish flag on top of it, committing a blatant violation of Syria’s sovereignty. Observers see that the Turkish aggression is a new proof of Erdogan’s regime’s greed and hostile intentions against Syria’s independence and territorial integrity. Erdogan’s regime has repeatedly assaulted the Syrian territories during the past few weeks through allowing ground forces into Jarablus and its outskirts under the pretext of combating ISIS terrorist organization. Contrary to the claims that the hospital will serve the locals of Jarablus city, the facts show that it will be used for hospitalizing and treating injured Saudi-backed terrorists.
 
Diplomatically, both countries support each other's stance on the conflict-hit countries of Syria, Yemen, and Iraq.
 
Turkey's army is actively engaged in northern Syria, backing terrorist groups which are also supported by Saudi Arabia.  Both Riyadh and Ankara have made it clear that they will continue supporting rebels and terrorists who have killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians in their violent campaign to overthrow the legitimate government of President Bashar al Assad.
 
Turkey is part of the Saudi alliance whose objective is to dismantle the axis of resistance by overthrowing President Assad. However this alliance, just like other coalitions involving Saudis, has failed dismally to an extent that even Western countries are abandoning and isolating the regime in Riyadh. The Saudi regime now has resorted to blackmailing other countries in attempts to compel them to joint its evil alliance and thus the visit by Nayef to Turkey is geared towards attaining this objective.
 
Turkey's credibility in the region has been dented due to its collaboration with Saudi Arabia in the ongoing wars in Iraq and Syria.
 
This is while Ankara and Riyadh have had deep differences in regional politics. While the Saudi regime supported a military coup in Egypt in July 2013, which ousted the only democratically elected president of Egypt, Mohammed Morsi, and Turkey vehemently rejected the overthrowing of a legitimately elected president and criticized the countries that supported the military coup.
 
Bin Salman backed anti-Erdogan Coup
 
The Saudi Crown Prince bin Nayef is visiting Ankara while there are reports that his rival, bin Salman is reported to have backed the recent military coup meant to oust Turkish President Reccep Tayyib Erdogan.
 
Saudi whistleblower Mujtahid, who is believed to be a member of or have a well-connected source in the royal family, disclosed that Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammad bin Salman has played a bigger role than earlier thought in the recent military coup in Turkey.
 
Bin Salman has taken control of MBC and al-Arabiya news channels and created a joint media operations room between al-Arabiya and the Arabic section of Skynews to pave the ground for the Turkey coup, Mujtahid wrote on his twitter page.
 
Bin Salman also had a collaborator, Mohammad bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, he added.
 
Bin Zayed informed Bin Salman that he had relations with Pennsylvania-based opposition figure, Fethullah Gulen, accused by the Turkish government of involvement in botched coup in the country, and has coordinated with him to overthrow  Erdogan's government and convinced Bin Salman that the coup will certainly succeed, Mujtahid wrote.
 
According to Mujtahid, Gulen received over $200mln from the UAE to launch the coup, he added.
 
According to Saudi whistleblower, Turkish intelligence agencies have received information about some negative collaboration between bin Salman and bin Zayed, but the Saudis have managed to convince the Justice and Development party to rest assured and be optimistic about Riyadh's measures.
 
Meanwhile, some analysts believe Saudi Arabia and Turkey have come to the obvious conclusion that they can no longer rely on the US and thus they have decided to come together. However, internal rivalries and regional geopolitics might make this alliance unworkable in future.