The summit meeting between King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Riyadh on Friday assumes added importance in view of the deteriorating situation in Syria and the talks between Iran and Western powers over Tehran's nuclear program. Failure to defuse the crisis in Syria can create instability throughout the region. If Iran does not assuage Western anxieties over its nuclear program, there are fears that either Israel or the US, or both, will take preemptive military action against Tehran and this may lead to a wider conflict in the region with broader consequences. So it was natural for King Adbullah and Erdogan to focus on the latest developments in the region as well as in the world. Saudi Arabia and Turkey are regional heavyweights in their own ways and have good relations with the West and other countries concerned with the latest regional developments. Talks on the Syrian crisis are crucial as the Syrian regime continues its crackdown on its own people despite the promise of Bashar Al-Assad to former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan that his government will stop the bloodletting. King Abdullah and Erdogan realize that the situation in Syria is dire. As more and more people get killed, there are calls for arming the rebels and for the creation of a transitional government in Syria. In short, there are no soft options on the Syrian crisis.Turkey is trying to put diplomatic pressure on Al-Assad by working with Russia and China, pro-Syrian members of the UN Security Council, and the Arab League member-countries. King Abdullah and Erdogan believe that the economies of the Middle East countries will grow only if there is security and stability in the region. That is why both countries have been trying to make the region conducive to progress. The Riyadh summit should be seen as the continuation of their efforts to strengthen the forces of peace and stability in the region and free it from Western intervention. With this end in view, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have started coordinating their approach to regional issues. Given the problems in the region, their coordinated action has become important and necessary. __
