REUTERS: RIYADH - Turkish President Abdullah Gul can expect a warm welcome when he starts an official visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday with the stated goal of boosting business ties with the world's largest oil exporter.
Saudi Arabia hopes the visit will bring it closer to forming a strategic alliance with the NATO member state to counter the growing influence of Iran in the region, diplomats say.
Bilateral ties have improved dramatically since Gul's AK Party and King Abdullah came to power in 2002 and 2005 respectively.
Saudi Arabia's ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim rulers were for decades wary of the avowedly secular Turkish state -- having helped to evict the Ottomans from the Arabian peninsula in the early years of the 20th century.
But the Saudi economy has more recently provided work for thousands of Turks, including Gul himself, whose daughter was born in the Saudi city of Jeddah.
Diplomats say that rising Shi'ite influence in the region, foremost from Iran, is now bringing a further rapprochement.
"Saudi leaders see in Turkey a strong ally to counter Iran's growing influence in the region. They don't mind giving Turkey the means that will enable it to supersede both their own influence and that of Iran," said one Western diplomat. >>> Editing by Thomas Atkins and Kevin Liffey | Monday, February 2, 2009
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