Turkey cooperates with KSA to turn back Saudis heading for Syria

Yunus Demirer. (Courtesy photo)

RIYADH: Turkish Ambassador to the Kingdom Yunus Demirer said there is coordination in place between his country and Saudi Arabia to turn back Saudis who head for the war zones in Syria, noting that recently a number of people of different nationalities were arrested while trying to infiltrate conflict zones to join the Daesh terrorist group.
The ambassador said the Turkish government is exerting extensive efforts to peacefully return these Saudis and hand them over to the Kingdom without any insult or disrespectful action, a local publication reported.
“Saudi Arabia and Turkey both strongly realize that what is happening in Syria is affecting both countries and every single Saudi living in these areas must be brought back and prevented from joining these terrorist groups again,” said the ambassador.
He said the Saudi and Turkish policies on the Syrian issue are identical as the intentions of the two countries involve bringing peace back to the Arab and Islamic world.
“We stand alongside Saudi Arabia with the refugees because of their difficult situation now, and there must be an international position to stop the war. As the whole world now knows, Turkey has more than 400,000 Syrian refugees, and we cooperate with Saudi Arabia to end the war. I personally think that the international community is keen on achieving peace and security in this country,” he asserted.
He said the Saudi-Turkish relations have deepened recently with the Saudi and Turkish people sharing many mutual features, mainly the Islamic religion and cooperation in all areas.
He stressed the fact that his country rejects attempts to harm Saudi Arabia and denied the existence of economic rivalries between the two countries.
“We complement each other in our economic relationship and there will be improved and continued relations and cooperation in areas of trade between Saudi and Turkish companies,” he added.
Demirer denied reports of Saudi tourist numbers declining following the recent bombings in some cities, noting that his country has deployed more than 350,000 security men to protect tourists, including Saudis who will find a warm welcome in their second home, Turkey.
The ambassador said that last year 400,000 Saudi tourists visited Turkey and expected this year the figure to rise, with about 180 flights weekly from the Kingdom to Turkey.