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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian military says separatist fighters in full control of Sievierodonetsk chemical plant, last Ukrainian holdout.

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By Tom Balmforth and Marko Djurica

KYIV/POKROVSK, Ukraine (Reuters) -Russian forces seized full control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk on Saturday, both sides said, confirming Kyiv’s biggest battlefield setback for more than a month following weeks of some of the war’s bloodiest fighting.

Ukraine called its retreat from the city a “tactical withdrawal” to fight from higher ground in Lysychansk on the opposite bank of the Siverskyi Donets river. Pro-Russian separatists said Moscow’s forces were now attacking Lysychansk.

The fall of Sievierodonetsk – once home to more than 100,000 people but now a wasteland – was Russia’s biggest victory since capturing the port of Mariupol last month. It transforms the battlefield in the east after weeks in which Moscow’s huge advantage in firepower had yielded only slow gains.

Russia will now seek to press on and seize more ground on the opposite bank, while Ukraine will hope that the price Moscow paid to capture the ruins of the small city will leave Russia’s forces vulnerable to counterattack.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed in a video address that Ukraine would win back the cities it lost, including Sievierodonetsk. But acknowledging the war’s emotional toll, he said: “We don’t have a sense of how long it will last, how many more blows, losses and efforts will be needed before we see victory is on the horizon.”

“The city is now under the full occupation of Russia,” Sievierodonetsk Mayor Oleksandr Stryuk said on national television. “They are trying to establish their own order, as far as I know they have appointed some kind of commandant.”

Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, told Reuters that Ukraine was carrying out “a tactical regrouping” by pulling its forces out of Sievierodonetsk.

“Russia is using the tactic … it used in Mariupol: wiping the city from the face of the earth,” he said. “Given the conditions, holding the defence in the ruins and open fields is no longer possible. So the Ukrainian forces are leaving for higher ground to continue the defence operations.”

Russia’s defence ministry said “as a result of successful offensive operations” Russian forces had established full control over Sievierodonetsk and the nearby town of Borivske.

Russia’s Interfax news agency cited a representative of pro-Russian separatist fighters saying Russian and pro-Russian forces had entered Lysychansk across the river and were fighting in urban areas there.

Russia also launched missile strikes across Ukraine on Saturday. At least three people were killed and others may have been buried in rubble in the town of Sarny, some 185 miles (300 km) west of Kyiv, after rockets hit a carwash and a car repair facility, said the head of the local regional military administration.

Russia denies targeting civilians. Kyiv and the West say Russian forces have committed war crimes against civilians.

Seeking to further tighten the screws on Russia, U.S. President Joe Biden and other Group of Seven leaders attending a summit in Germany starting on Sunday will agree on an import ban on new gold from Russia, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

‘IT WAS HORROR’

In the Ukrainian-held Donbas town of Pokrovsk, Elena, an elderly woman in a wheelchair from Lysychansk, was among dozens of evacuees who arrived by bus from frontline areas.

“Lysychansk, it was a horror, the last week. Yesterday we could not take it any more,” she said. “I already told my husband if I die, please bury me behind the house.”

As Europe’s biggest land conflict since World War Two entered its fifth month, Russian missiles also rained down on western, northern and southern parts of the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent tens of thousands of troops over the border on Feb. 24, unleashing a conflict that has killed thousands and uprooted millions. It has also stoked an energy and food crisis which is shaking the global economy.

Since Russia’s forces were defeated in an assault on the capital Kyiv in March, it has shifted focus to the Donbas, an eastern territory made up of Luhansk and Donetsk provinces. Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk were the last major Ukrainian bastions in Luhansk.

The Russians crossed the river in force in recent days and have been advancing towards Lysychansk, threatening to encircle Ukrainians in the area.

The capture of Sievierodonetsk is likely to seen by Russia as vindication for its switch from its early, failed attempt at “lightning warfare” to a relentless, grinding offensive using massive artillery in the east.

Moscow says Luhansk and Donetsk, where it has backed uprisings since 2014, are independent countries. It demands Ukraine cede the entire territory of the two provinces to separatist administrations.

Ukrainian officials had never held out much hope of holding Sievierodonetsk but have sought to exact a high enough price to exhaust the Russian army.

Ukraine’s top general Valeriy Zaluzhnyi wrote on the Telegram app that newly arrived, U.S.-supplied advanced HIMARS rocket systems were now deployed and hitting targets in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.

Asked about a potential counterattack in the south, Budanov, the Ukrainian military intelligence chief, told Reuters that Ukraine should begin to see results “from August”.

Russian missiles also struck elsewhere overnight. “48 cruise missiles. At night. Throughout whole Ukraine,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter. “Russia is still trying to intimidate Ukraine, cause panic.”

The governor of Lviv region in western Ukraine said six missiles were fired from the Black Sea at a base near the border with Poland. Four hit the target but two were destroyed.

The war has had a huge impact on the global economy andEuropean security, driving up gas, oil and food prices, pushing the European Union to reduce reliance on Russian energy and prompting Finland and Sweden to seek NATO membership.

(Additional Reporting by Max Hunder, Alessandra Prentice and Reuters bureaux; Writing by Madeline Chambers, Peter Graff; Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Peter Graff and Alistair Bell)

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By Emma Pinedo and Ahmed Eljechtimi

MADRID (Reuters) -Morocco said 18 migrants died trying to cross into Spain’s North African enclave of Melilla on Friday, after a violent two-hour skirmish between migrants and border officers that also led to scores of injuries

About 2,000 migrants stormed a high fence that seals off the enclave. This led to clashes with security forces as more than 100 migrants managed to cross from Morocco into Melilla, Moroccan and Spanish authorities said.

Morocco’s Interior Ministry initially said five migrants had died in the border raid, some after falling from the fence surrounding Melilla and others in a crush, and that 76 migrants were injured. It later said another 13 had died.

Some 140 Members of Moroccan security forces were also injured, it added, five seriously, though none of them died.

    Over the past decade, Melilla and Ceuta, a second Spanish enclave also on Africa’s northern coast, have become a magnet for mostly sub-Saharan migrants trying to get into Europe.

    Friday’s attempt began around 6:40 a.m. in the face of resistance from Moroccan security forces.

    At around 8:40 a.m., more than 500 migrants began to enter Melilla, jumping over the roof of a border checkpoint after cutting through fencing with a bolt cutter, the Madrid government’s representative body there said in a statement. 

    Most were forced back but around 130 men managed to reach the enclave and were being processed at its reception centre for immigrants, it added.

Footage posted on social media showed large groups of African youths walking along roads around the border, celebrating entering Melilla and the firing of what appeared to be tear gas by the authorities. 

    Spanish authorities said the border incursion led to 57 migrants and 49 Spanish police sustaining injuries.

‘HUMAN TRAFFICKING MAFIAS’

    Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez paid tribute to officers on both side of the border for fighting off “a well-organised, violent assault” which he suggested was organised by “human trafficking mafias”. 

    He underscored the improvement in relations between Madrid and Rabat. In March, Spain recognised the position of Morocco towards the Western Sahara, a territory the North African nation claims as its own but where an Algeria-backed independence movement is demanding establishment of an autonomous state.  

    “I would like to thank the extraordinary cooperation we are having with the Kingdom of Morocco which demonstrates the need to have the best of relations,” he said.  

    AMDH Nador, a Moroccan human rights watchdog, said the incursion came a day after migrants clashed with Moroccan security personnel attempting to clear camps they had set up in a forest near Melilla.

    The watchdog’s head, Omar Naji, told Reuters that clash was part of an “intense crackdown” on migrants since Spanish and Moroccan forces resumed joint patrols and reinforced security measures in the area around the enclave.

    The incursion was the first significant one since Spain adopted its more pro-Rabat stance over Western Sahara.

    In the weeks of 2022 prior to that shift, migrant entries into the two enclaves had more than trebled compared with the same period of 2021. 

    In mid-2021, as many as 8,000 people swam into Ceuta or clambered over its fence over a couple of days, taking advantage of the apparent lifting of a security net on the Moroccan side of the border following a bilateral diplomatic spat.

(Reporting by Emma Pinedo, Christina Thykjaer in Madrid and Ahmed El Jechtimi in Morocco, editing by Aislinn Laing, John Stonestreet, Alex Richardson and David Gregorio)

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By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Ghislaine Maxwell urged a U.S. judge not to admit testimony from four female accusers at her sentencing next Tuesday for aiding the financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of underage girls.

In a Friday letter to Circuit Judge Alison Nathan, who presided over Maxwell’s trial and will sentence the British socialite, Maxwell’s lawyer Bobbi Sternheim said it would be “unduly prejudicial” to publicize the women’s “victim impact statements” or consider them when imposing sentence.

“The sentencing proceeding should not be a bully pulpit for anyone who claims abuse,” Sternheim wrote.

Prosecutors and Maxwell’s lawyers agreed that two other accusers, Annie Farmer and Virginia Giuffre, qualify as victims under the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act.

Farmer and the accuser “Kate,” who both testified at Maxwell’s trial, plan to attend her sentencing in Manhattan federal court while the other accusers do not, prosecutors said.

Maxwell, 60, was convicted on Dec. 29 on five of the six counts she faced, including sex trafficking, for recruiting and grooming four girls for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 2004.

Prosecutors want Maxwell to spend at least 30 years in prison, citing her “utter lack of remorse” as she blamed others for her own “shockingly predatory” conduct.

Maxwell wants a shorter prison term than the 20 years recommended by probation officers.

Friday’s filings included written statements from Farmer, Kate and Giuffre about how Maxwell affected their lives.

“This toxic combination of being sexually exposed and exploited, feeling confused and naïve, blaming myself all resulted in significant shame,” Farmer wrote.

Kate described being around Maxwell as “like a roller coaster ride, designed to disorient and disempower me as a vulnerable, young girl.”

Giuffre addressed her statement to Maxwell directly.

“You opened the door to hell,” she wrote. “But Ghislaine, I want you to know that while you tried to break me, you didn’t succeed.”

Epstein, 66, was found dead in his jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Richard Chang)

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By Alexandra Valencia

QUITO (Reuters) – A group of opposition lawmakers in Ecuador are pushing for the removal of conservative President Guillermo Lasso after nearly two weeks of mass protests led by indigenous groups demanding lower fuel and food prices, though other legislators say they will not back his ouster.

The sometimes-violent demonstrations, which began on June 13, have led to at least six civilian deaths and featured multiple attacks on security forces.

The protests have worsened Lasso’s already-adversarial relationship with the national assembly, whose lawmakers have blocked his major economic proposals as he has struggled to contain rising violence he blames on drug gangs.

Lawmakers from the opposition UNES movement, loyal to former leftist President Rafael Correa, called on Twitter for elections – not scheduled until 2025 – to be moved forward.

The constitution allows lawmakers to remove presidents and call elections during a political crisis or mass unrest.

“The country can’t take it anymore,” UNES lawmaker Fausto Jarrin said. Jarrin formally asked the legislature to convene a debate on the removal process. “Dialogue is being broken by all sides, with violence.”

Lawmakers from other parties would individually support the efforts, Jarrin said.

Lasso’s removal would require the support of 92 of the assembly’s 137 lawmakers. Lasso can also dissolve the legislature and call for elections.

The government criticized the UNES move, insisting it has made significant concessions through decree and is willing to discuss the issues. Lawmakers from three other parties including Lasso’s rejected the move to oust him and said they support dialogue between the government and indigenous groups.

STALLED RAPPROCHEMENT

Despite some government concessions, there has been little sign of a rapprochement between officials and protesters, who are led by indigenous group CONAIE.

Indigenous leaders have demanded the withdrawal of security forces and an end to special measures put in place for six provinces before the two sides can discuss a list of 10 indigenous demands, including lower fuel prices and a halt to oil and mining development.

Lasso has announced subsidized fertilizers, bank debt forgiveness and budget increases for health and education. On Thursday, security forces withdrew from a cultural institution, allowing it to be used by protesters.

But violent confrontations overnight and in isolated incidents on Friday afternoon raised tensions once again, with CONAIE leader Leonidas Iza saying he supports attempts to remove Lasso.

CONAIE was having a meeting on Friday to weigh the government response to its demands.

Lasso tried to discredit Iza in video broadcast on social media on Friday afternoon, saying he is committed to addressing indigenous concerns and encouraging marchers to return home.

“The real intention of Mr. Iza is the overthrow of the government,” Lasso said. “The national police and the armed forces will act with necessary measures to defend under the law, using progressive use of force.”

Security forces are not facing down demonstrators, Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo told journalists, but criminals armed with firearms who have infiltrated marches.

Violence would be met with rubber pellets, he said. Security forces already deployed tear gas on Friday.

Seventeen military personnel were injured and three vehicles burned when a military convoy attempting to help truck drivers carrying food and medicine into the capital Quito was attacked, officials said.

Quito residents said supplies of domestic gas are running low, as are products in supermarkets.

The interior ministry has confirmed four deaths during the protests and the health ministry has said two people died in ambulances delayed by road blockades.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and Grant McCool)

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By Ayenat Mersie and Estelle Shirbon

KIGALI (Reuters) -Britain’s Prince Charles expressed deep sorrow over slavery in a speech to Commonwealth leaders in Rwanda on Friday and acknowledged that the roots of the organisation lay in a painful period of history, alluding to the slave trade and colonialism.

The Commonwealth, a club of 54 countries most of which are former British colonies, encompasses about a third of humanity and presents itself as a network of equal partners with shared goals such as democracy, peace and prosperity.

“While we strive together for peace, prosperity and democracy, I want to acknowledge that the roots of our contemporary association run deep into the most painful period of our history,” Charles told assembled Commonwealth leaders at the opening ceremony of a two-day summit in Kigali.

“I cannot describe the depths of my personal sorrow at the suffering of so many as I continue to deepen my own understanding of slavery’s enduring impact.”

Rooted in the British Empire, the Commonwealth has not previously grappled publicly with the legacy of colonialism or slavery, but there have been increasing calls, especially from Caribbean member states, for it to do so.

“If we are to forge a common future that benefits all our citizens, we too must find new ways to acknowledge our past. Quite simply, this is a conversation whose time has come,” Charles said.

He was at the summit representing his mother, Queen Elizabeth, who has been head of the Commonwealth since her reign began in 1952. The baton will pass to him, according to a decision by Commonwealth leaders made in 2018 that some Caribbean nations are now contesting.

In his speech, Charles also acknowledged growing republican sentiment in some of the 15 Commonwealth nations that currently have the queen as head of state. They include the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, Belize, the Bahamas and Papua New Guinea.

(Writing by Estelle Shirbon, Editing by William Maclean, Gareth Jones and Alex Richardson)

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KYIV (Reuters) – A district south of the city of Lysychansk in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region was “fully occupied” by Russian forces as of Friday morning, a local Ukrainian official said on television.

“Unfortunately, as of today… the entire Hirske district is occupied,” Hirske’s municipal head Oleksiy Babchenko said on a television broadcast. “There are some insignificant, local battles going on at the outskirts, but the enemy has entered.”

The loss of Hirske and several other settlements around it leaves Lysychansk, the last major Ukrainian-controlled city in Luhansk, in danger of being enveloped from three sides by advancing Russian forces.

Russia’s defence ministry said on Friday it had encircled about 2,000 Ukrainian troops, including 80 foreign fighters, at Hirske. Reuters could not independently verify the claim.

Ukraine signalled on Friday its troops were withdrawing from Lysychansk’s sister city Sievierodonetsk, the scene of weeks of intense bombardments and street fighting, in what would be a significant setback in its struggle to defeat Russian forces.

(Reporting by Max Hunder; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan will donate $1 million to Afghan earthquake relief efforts in response to a call from the United Nations and others for humanitarian assistance, the government said late on Thursday.

Taiwan is not a U.N. member due to pressure from China which considers the democratically-governed island part of its territory, but is always keen to show it is a responsible member of the international community.

Taiwan’s presidential office said in a statement that the government would donate “based on the spirit of humanitarian care for disaster relief regardless of national borders (and) responding to the United Nations and other humanitarian calls.”

However Taiwan will not send search and rescue teams after consulting with other countries and considering the difficulty of transportation, office spokesman Xavier Chang added.

Taiwan also lies in a quake-prone zone and regularly sends rescue teams to other disaster areas around the world.

China has said it stands ready to provide Afghanistan aid, and on Friday its foreign ministry said that it is “stepping up efforts” to collect cash, tents, bed quilts and other humanitarian aid to deliver to Afghanistan as soon as possible, but did not offer details of the size of the aid package.

Around 1,000 people are already confirmed dead from the quake in a remote part of the country this week.

Taiwan and China have sparred over humanitarian assistance for Ukraine, with Taiwan donating more than $30 million for refugees and rebuilding and China around $3 million.

China has accused Taiwan of using the donations for political purposes. This has been strongly rejected by the government in Taipei which has said the aid came “from our heart”.

When asked for comment on the speediness of Taiwan’s donations in Ukraine and Afghanistan and if China supports these donations, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Taiwan is part of China.

“Any attempt to use various banners and names to expand the space for Taiwan independence secessionist activities will not succeed,” Wang told reporters at a regular briefing in Beijing on Friday.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Martin Quin Pollard in Beijing; editing by Richard Pullin and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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Kuwait’s Parliament Dissolved as Gulf State Heads To Snap Election

Emir hopes vote will resolve political stalemate, enable reforms

The emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, dissolved the country’s unicameral National Assembly on Wednesday, paving the way for early elections.

Sheikh Nawaf, 84, who has delegated the powers of governance to his half–brother, Crown Prince Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, since November due to his travel for medical treatment, said in brief remarks after announcing the move that “the crown prince will give more details.”

“I instructed my brother, the crown prince, to deliver a speech on my behalf, which we hope will clarify everything that is going on. We are fully aware of and follow the political scene,” the emir said.

The Kuwaiti government submitted its resignation back on April 5, less than four months after its appointment as the fourth government in two-and-a-half years, after the National Assembly voted to “not cooperate” and accused three deputy prime ministers of violating the constitution, disrupting citizens’ interests, and corruption. Since then, the government has assumed a caretaker role.

In his televised speech, Crown Prince Mishaal, 81, identified 10 reasons for dissolving the legislature, the most prominent of which are: increasing differences and conflicts;lack of cooperation between the government and parliament; the presence of personal interests and whims within parliament; and practices and behaviors that threaten national unity.

“We decided, under the will of the people and out of respect for their will, to resort to the constitution, and based on our constitutional right stipulated in Article 107 of the constitution, to dissolve the National Assembly as a constitutional solution and call for general elections in accordance with the constitutional procedures, dates and controls,” he said.

The election will be scheduled in the coming months after preparing the “necessary legal arrangements,” the crown prince said.

He called on the people to “make a good choice in the upcoming elections” and “to rally around the political leadership,” announcing the start of a new phase of cooperation and warning of the turbulent conditions and dangers in the region.

The crown prince promised not to interfere in the people’s choice of their representatives, or even to intervene in choosing the speaker of the National Assembly or the various parliamentary committees. He stressed that the Kuwaiti political leadership will stand at the same distance from everyone and will not support one group at the expense of another.

Unlike other countries in the region, Kuwait has an active political life and its parliament, whose members are elected for four-year terms, enjoys broad legislative powers and is often the scene of intense debate. Final authority, however, rests with the emir.

In January, Fitch Ratings downgraded Kuwait to AA- from AA with a stable outlook, citing “ongoing political constraints” that undermine the country’s ability to address structural problems.

All Kuwaiti newspapers praised the crown prince’s speech and the emir’s directives, and stressed the emir had acted to “protect the constitution” and to repair the confused situation.

Arkan al-Enezi, a Kuwaiti journalist, told The Media Line, “The emir’s steps will solve a major crisis that was afflicting the country. The last National Assembly was a major obstacle, during which three governments were formed, all of which were rejected. Such a matter cannot be accepted.”

“Unfortunately, the ministers’ questions were not based on a correct basis. They were either due to personal interests or because of a dispute that has nothing to do with the ministers’ work,” he added.

“It may not be the last time that parliament is dissolved. Unfortunately, those who represent the people repeat the mistakes of their predecessors,” Enezi said.

Jaber Hammoud, a Kuwaiti political analyst, told The Media Line that “the steps taken by the emir of Kuwait are 100% legal, and there is no objection from any groups within the people, because the parliament is almost dysfunctional, and the government is only a caretaker government.”

He said that “Parliamentary work since the first day of the speaker’s election was a farce. They questioned the elections, then questioned the legitimacy of the parliament speaker, and attacked the president and ministers, all for the sake of personal interests and accounts.”

“We hope that there will be an election of new faces in parliament. It is about the people, but this may not happen correctly, because sometimes voting is based on the fact that this person is from my tribe or from the category to which I belong or do not belong, and not on the basis of competence,” Hammoud also said.

The prominent Kuwaiti media figure Fajr al-Saeed commented on Twitter, saying: “It’s no use, we are bored.”

The owner and editor-in-chief of the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah, Ahmed al-Jarallah, said, “The speeches of the emir of Kuwait and the crown prince left the impression on people that there is an authority, and not as they think, that it is absent or hesitant, or indecisive.”

The National Democratic Alliance liberal bloc said in a statement obtained by The Media Line that “the speech of the emir put an end to the political chaos that Kuwait was suffering from, and the disruption of institutions that took place at a sensitive time during and after the coronavirus pandemic. The people must choose their representatives away from any sectarian or ethnic calculations.”

None of the 50 elected National Assembly representatives objected to the decision of the emir in statements published by the media, as they all agreed on the need to resolve the impasse facing the legislative and executive authorities.

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Ankara, Riyadh Announce Increased Cooperation as Erdogan Grapples WithEconomic Crisis

Turkey’s president trying to warm ties with several countries in the region in bid to woo investment

[Istanbul] Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in a joint statement in Ankara late Wednesday, announced plans to increase bilateral cooperation.

It is the prince’s first visit to Turkey since being accused of ordering the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist and Saudi national, in Istanbul more than three years ago.

The two countries will work together on trade, investment and regional issues to increase stability, and increase flights between them.

Erdogan greeted and embraced Prince Mohammed in a ceremony in Ankara that was televised live.

The visit to Turkey was the last leg of a regional trip for the prince that included stops in Egypt and Jordan.

Erdogan said before the visit that the meeting was aimed at advancing relations, something he attempted with his own visit to Saudi Arabia in April.

Relations with Saudi Arabia plummeted in October 2018 when Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post, went missing after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

US intelligence blamed Prince Mohammed for ordering the murder of the journalist and Erdogan said “the highest levels of the Saudi government” were to blame for his death, but did not mention the crown prince by name.

In the days after Khashoggi’s disappearance, international media converged on the Saudi consulate as anonymous sources within the Turkish government continually leaked additional details of how they said the journalist had been killed.

Journalists were later invited back to the area around the consulate for theunveiling of a symbolic tombstone for Khashoggi, with the event attended by Jeff Bezos, owner of The Washington Post.

The leaks and the attention paid to the Saudi consulate helped Erdogan put major pressure on his Saudi rivals.

Three-and-a-half-years later, that tombstone is surrounded by weeds, and security officials at the consulate won’t allow pictures to be taken.

The Turkish president is now in a much different position.

Erdogan has been seeking investment from other countries amid an economic crisis in the Anatolian nation where the official inflation rate is reported at 70%,and the Turkish lira lost 44% of its value last year and another 23% so far in 2022.

A group of independent economists say the real inflation figure is 160%.

The bad economic news has hit Erdogan’s approval rating and put into question his chances of returning to office and holding onto his parliamentary majority in national elections that are due next year but could take place earlier.

“He had to throw the towel in,” said Timothy Ash, an economist focused on Turkey, who added that the visit came down to Erdogan’s need for money.

“It’s as simple as that. He needs cash, a lot of it and as much as he can get,” Ash told The Media Line.

Erdogan’s need for investment, especially ahead of the campaign season, meant he was looking to work with wealthy countries, and the only realistic options werethe United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, the economist said.

Ash believes the Saudis will look to buy assets in Turkey at a low price, to take advantage of the country’s poor economy and desperation for funds.

“They will look to exploit Turkey’s weakness,” Ash said.

He added that Riyadh wants to end the rivalry with Turkey and accepted that Erdogan has given up on some of his fights for regional influence, such as through support for the Muslim Brotherhood.

Ryan Bohl, a Middle East and North Africa analyst with RANE/Stratfor, said Saudi Arabia wants to project an image of itself as not causing conflict abroad and move past Prince Mohammed’s early years.

That’s a stance that Ankara seems to accept.

“It’s enormously important from a symbolic level: Not only is Erdogan saying the assassination doesn’t matter, he’s also dropping the direct personal competition he was having with [the crown prince] in favor of cooperation,” Bohl told The Media Line.

He added that Erdogan is also hoping for a defense deal, including possibly a sale of the Bayraktar drone that has become famous after Ukraine’s successful use of it against the Russian invasion.

Turkey could be an attractive arms seller for Saudi Arabia because Ankara is not concerned about how its weapons are used, in contrast to Washington, Bohl said.

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