Turkey says not right for U.S. to pressure Saudi Arabia over oil output

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday it was not right for the United States to pressure Saudi Arabia after OPEC+ oil producers announced production cuts despite U.S. objections.

“We see that a country has threatened Saudi Arabia, especially recently. This bullying is not correct,” Cavusoglu said at a news conference in southern Turkey.

President Joe Biden said last week “there will be consequences” for U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia after OPEC+ announced it would cut its oil output target.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has said the OPEC+ decision was purely economic and was taken unanimously by its member states.

“We don’t think it’s right for the U.S. to use it as an element of pressure on Saudi Arabia or any other country in this way,” Cavusoglu said.

Oil importer Turkey has this year sought to normalise ties with Saudi Arabia, which were ruptured after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Now Turkey is seeking foreign financial support to bolster its beleaguered economy ahead of elections next year.

In April, Erdogan held one-on-one talks with Prince Mohammed in Saudi Arabia, after earlier dropping the Turkish trial over Khashoggi’s 2018 murder in Istanbul.

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