By Ahmed Asmar
ANKARA (AA) - The Saudi Embassy in Ankara on Monday celebrated the kingdom's 94th National Day with an event attended by top Turkish officials, and ambassadors and diplomats from foreign embassies in Türkiye.
Turkish National Defense Minister Yasar Guler, Ankara Governor Vasip Sahin and President of Religious Affairs Ali Erbas were among Turkish officials who attended the ceremony.
Speaking at the event, Guler extended Türkiye's congratulations to the kingdom on its National Day, stressing that Saudi Arabia is an important country in the Middle East that has "achieved significant progress in several fields."
Fahad bin Asaad Abu Al-Nasr, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Ankara, welcomed the guests at the event, and stressed the strong ties between Riyadh and Ankara.
"I would like to commend the historical relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Türkiye, which were crowned by mutual visits between the leadership of the two countries, in addition to the high-level mutual visits," the Saudi ambassador said.
He also hailed the level of trade between the two countries, saying it reached $6.8 billion in 2023. "We aspire to raise the level of bilateral trade in the coming period."
Stressing the brotherly ties between the two countries, the Saudi ambassador said that the number of Saudi tourists coming to Türkiye "exceeded 800,000 in 2023."
Saudi Arabia celebrates its National Day on Sept. 23 to commemorate the unification of the kingdom.