Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday hosted Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman at his presidential palace in Ankara, extending his guest a lavish welcome that underlined the growing importance of Ankara-Riyadh ties. King Salman was met by Erdogan at his vast new presidential palace with an honor guard of Turkish soldiers as well as 16 costumed warriors representing the various Turkic empires in world history. Turkish president decorated King Salman with the country's highest state medal in recognition of the close ties between the two countries. Erdogan bestowed the medal, saying the Saudi Monarch had exerted "great efforts" to forge friendly ties since taking the throne. Talks during the King's three-day visit were expected to focus on Syria and other regional issues. King Salman is scheduled to attend the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Istanbul scheduled to be held on Thursday-Friday. Saudi Arabia and Turkey both believe the ousting of President Bashar Al-Assad is the key to solving the Syrian conflict. In February, Turkey began hosting Saudi jets and military personnel and its Incirlik air base to join the air campaign against Daesh. King Salman's official visit to Ankara before the OIC summit is expected to take positive relations between the two countries to an important level, said experts. The chair of the Middle East and African Researchers' Association, Prof. Zekeriya Kursun, attached significance to the monarch's visit to Turkey before the summit. Institute of Strategic Thinking Chairman Prof. Birol Akgun stated that even though the two countries are run by different regimes, they maintained good relations in economic and politics since the date of their respective foundations.
