| Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud | |
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| In office | 1977-2001 |
| Predecessor | Omar Mahmood Shams |
| Successor | Muqrin bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud |
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| In office | 2005–2007 |
| Predecessor | Bandar bin Sultan |
| Successor | Adel al-Jubeir |
| House | House of Saud |
| Father | King Faisal |
| Mother | Iffat Al-Thunayan |
| Born | February 15, 1945 Ta'if, Saudi Arabia |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud (born February 15, 1945), known also as Turki Al Faisal, is a member of the Saudi royal family. He is one of the founders of the King Faisal Foundation and serves as Chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies.
From 1977 to 2001, Turki was the Director General of Al Mukhabarat Al A'amah, Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency, and subsequently served as ambassador to the United Kingdom and the United States.[1] He is considered the leading candidate to become Saudi Arabia's next Minister of Foreign Affairs. He has become a prominent royal advocate for a Palestinian state.
He is the grandson of the late King Abdul-Aziz and is the son of the late King Faisal. He is the brother of Foreign Minister Prince Saud and Prince Khalid, Governor of the Makkah Province. He is a nephew of the present King Abdullah.
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Turki was born on February 15, 1945 in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. He is the eighth and last son of the late King Faisal by Princess Iffat Al-Thunayyan.[2]
He received his primary and some secondary education at a school in Taif built by his parents.[3] When he was fourteen, his father sent him to Princeton, New Jersey to complete his secondary education at the Lawrenceville School, from which he graduated from in 1963.[4] He then attended the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, graduating in the class of 1968 (alongside future U.S. President Bill Clinton).[5] Turki has also done post-graduate work at Princeton, Cambridge, and the University of London, where he took courses in Islamic law and jurisprudence.[6]
After returning to the Kingdom, Turki was appointed an Adviser in the Royal Court in 1973.[7]
Turki began his political career as deputy to his uncle, Kamal Adham, and then, his successor as the head of Saudi Arabia's Al Mukhabarat Al A'amah (General Intelligence Directorate), a position he held for 25 years—from 1977 until 10 days before the September 11 attacks in 2001.[8] He took part in organizing a military operation to remove the hostage-taking terrorists from Masjid al-Haram (the Sacred Mosque) in Mecca during the Grand Mosque Seizure in November–December 1979.[5] He was replaced shortly before 9/11 by his uncle, Prince Nawwaf.[9]
After King Fahd's stroke in 1995, Turki had a minor disagreement with Abdullah, who didn't want to be briefed by him.[10]
Turki has been controversially associated with al-Qaeda. As head of Saudi intelligence, he met Osama bin Laden alongside Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operatives several times during the 1980s in efforts to support him in Afghanistan against the Soviets. Saudi intelligence joined Pakistan's intelligence service and the CIA in funding the mujahideen. Turki had met with bin Laden five times. Turki had his last meet with bin Laden in early 1990 in which bin Laden was interested in aiding against the South Yemen communists.[11] His intelligence agency kept careful track of bin Laden from the beginning of his rise.[12]
In 1993, he helped mediate between warring factions in Afghanistan. In early 1996, Sudan offered to extradite bin Laden to Saudi Arabia. Clinton called on Turki to bring bin Laden back to Saudi Arabia for a quick execution. Saudi Arabia denied the request and Osama left Sudan for Afghanistan.
A continued connection to bin Laden was falsely claimed by Paris Match magazine. In December 2004, Turki accepted substantial libel damages and an apology from the magazine Paris Match over claims he himself was linked to the 11 September attacks.[4]
In 2002, Turki was named in a multi-billion dollar lawsuit by the families of September 11 victims, alleging that he and other Saudi princes, banks, and charities may have funded the terrorists involved in the attack. His involvement was also strongly implied in the Michael Moore documentary Fahrenheit 911. A reporter for the Baltimore Chronicle claimed he was flown out of the United States shortly after the terrorist attacks, but the claim disappeared from later versions of the article. Turki described Fahrenheit 911 as "grossly unfair" to Saudis.[4]
Turki maintains that he has had no contact with bin Laden since shortly after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. He claims to have secretly negotiated with Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar in 1998 in an attempt to have bin Laden extradited to Saudi Arabia, but the negotiations were unsuccessful. In a November 2001 interview, Turki expressed support for the US operation in Afghanistan against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. In December 2004, Turki was awarded libel damages from Paris Match for its claims that he was connected to the attacks. In 2005, a US federal judge ruled that Saudi officials including Turki were immune from the lawsuit. Turki has severely criticized al-Qaeda, calling it an "evil cult." [4]
He served as an ambassador to the United Kingdom.[7][13] He served as ambassador from January 2003 until the US invasion in Iraq[4][14] and was well respected by British diplomats.[15]
In July 2005, it was announced that he would succeed Bandar bin Sultan as Saudi ambassador to the United States. He served as ambassador to the United States from July 2005 until December 11, 2006. Adel al-Jubeir succeeded him as ambassador to the United States.
Turki reprimanded Israel for not accepting the Arab Peace Initiative, which normalizes relationship with Israel in exchange of withdrawal to 1967 borders.[16]
Turki spent much of his time as ambassador to the United States traveling around the country (he visited 37 states). Turki strongly advocated that the United States engage in direct talks with Iran over its differences concerning Iran's involvement in Iraq, its nuclear program and support of Hezbollah in Lebanon, but other high-ranking Saudi officials, including Turki's predecessor as ambassador, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, were in favor of a tougher stance, believing that, ultimately, military action would probably be required to set back Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program.[17]
He argued that the Palestinian-Israeli issue, not Iran, was more important for the United States. He called on the Bush Administration to revive the peace process. He also argued that diplomacy with Iran is the best way to prevent problems. The Administration disliked his stance and made it difficult for him to arrange visits to the White House. The White House preferred Bandar's more aggressive approach and welcomed Bandar instead.[10]
Turki's position in Washington became increasingly untenable. Prince Bandar's repeated visits to the White House undermined Turki. On top of that, Turki's goal of engaging in public diplomacy with the American people was weakened because of a shortage of money to fund the embassy and his public relations program.[18]
Turki was angered that when his own king had asked Vice President Dick Cheney to meet at short notice in Riyadh, Turki was not invited to attend — an unusual omission for Saudi summit meetings. In addition, Turki's brother — the ailing, longtime Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, — did not write the post-summit briefing for Turki; Prince Bandar did.[17]
King Abdullah is reported to have preferred Prince Bandar bin Sultan as the King's intermediary between Riyadh and Washington D.C. This situation may have been one of the causes that led Turki's abrupt resignation as a protest.[8]
He abruptly resigned in early December 2006 after only 15 months as an ambassador.[17] His predecessor, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, worked in the same post for 22 years.[15] He came back in January after the Hajj Pilgrimage to formally deliver his goodbyes. In his January return trip, he reasserted Saudi Arabia's commitment to the people of Iraq and emphasized that the "health of Saudi Arabia's economy is linked to the health of Saudi Arabia's education system".[19] Some analysts claim he intentionally attracted attention.[17] He said he wanted to spend time with family.[15]
His resignation was initially released by the Washington Post, notably not by the royal court or any official source.[10]
As Chairman, Prince Turki has expressed his stance on a number of issues. He compared energy independence in American politics to baby-kissing. He stated that American politicians must be courageous against demagoguery.[20] He has lauded his country's efforts in education and believes that Saudis can succeed only through education.[21] He visited India in December 2011.[22]
He criticized equating jihad with acts of terrorism by citing the resistance against Soviets in the 1980s.[23] He disapproved of the Obama Administration's shunning of Hamid Karzai and believed Abdullah Abdullah was not an acceptable candidate to Afghanistan's diverse ethnic groups — namely, the Pashtuns and Uzbeks.[24] He also called for a shift in U.S. strategy from the media theme against the Taliban to a more focused propaganda campaign against Al Qaeda.[24] He voiced his urgency to the immediate resolution of the Durand Line between Pakistan and Aghanistan.[24] He wants Afghan people to handle their own problems. He also expects the U.S. will continue to experience resistance as long as it stays in Afghanistan.[11][25]
On Iran, he has warned of their growing influence in Lebanon as "foreign hands manipulating strings." [26] Asked what he thought would be the consequences of an Israeli or U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, Turki responded, "Calamitous … cataclysmic, not just catastrophic." [27] On the Iranian nuclear program, he believes that there should be a zone free of weapons of mass destruction. He believes Iranian actions have provoked worldwide opposition but at the same time suggests that Iran's nuclear program is being singled out.[11] He believes Iran is pursuing an "explosive" path in nuclear enrichment.[28] He stated if Iran was attacked Saudi Arabia would never grant Israeli flyover rights.[29]
On Yemen, he stated that Yemen has become a sanctuary for extremists as refugees flee the conflict and into the Kingdom's borders.[30]
On the Israeli occupation, he has become the Kingdom's leading critic of American foreign policy. He has described the relationship between U.S. President George W. Bush and Israel as "callous, unforgivably, and without any restraint".[31] He accused the Obama Administration of blatant pro-Israel bias. In addition, he castigated the Obama administration for protecting Israel's nuclear program from international scrutiny and the Bush administration for undermining a Saudi-brokered power-sharing agreement between Fatah and Hamas.[16] He called on U.S. President Barack Obama to "walk the walk" on the two state solution for Palestine and Israel. For relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, he has pre-conditioned a return to the 1967 borders.[26]
In a Financial Times editorial in January 2009, he wrote a blasting critique of American foreign policy toward Palestine. He alleged U.S. was complicit in the deaths of Gazans.[32]
He has warned that "neocon advisers, American conservatives and Zionist extremists” promoted policies “that continually throw a wrench into the progress of peace.” He referred the 2010 United States midterm elections as it “will give more fodder for these warmongers to pursue their favorite exercise – warmongering.” However, he noted that many Democrats, as well as Republicans, were also strong supporters of Israel.[33]
In February 2010, a diplomatic row broke out at an international security conference in Munich, Germany between him and Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon. The Prince did not want to sit next to Ayalon because of Ayalon's "boorish" behavior in his attempt to shame Turkish ambassador on Israeli television. Ayalon then accused Saudi Arabia that the Kingdom had not "given a penny" to the Palestinian Authority. Turki responded by reminding Ayalon that the Kingdom has given more than $500 million over the past five years. Ayalon apologized and shook hands with Turki as a reconciliation measure. The crowd applauded. The subsequent day, Turki clarified that the gesture does not signal any change in official policy towards Israel.[34]
In the World Economic Forum at Davos in January 2011, he called for a Middle East without WMDs and stated "the elephant in the room is Israel. Israel with a nuclear weapon is dangerous.” [35]
He claimed the documents "are a hodgepodge of selectivity, inaccuracy, agenda pursuit, and downright disinformation." [29] He claimed if diplomats and leaders were not able to discuss matters that affect them through cables freely, the countries are "in trouble".[36] He added that WikiLeaks poses a serious danger to all governments and called for meting out tough punishment for those responsible for the breach.[37]
He is a commissioner in the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament.[38]
He is Deputy Chairman of Saudi General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA).[39]
He presently teaches at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.[40] He is also a co-chair of the C100 Group, an affiliate of the World Economic Forum.[40] C-100 Group encourages interfaith dialogue and cross-cultural understanding.[40]
He has visited many American universities and has lectured on the history of Saudi Arabia to improve relations between the West and Saudi Arabia. He has recently visited the University of South Florida, Syracuse University, Rice University, Cornell University, and Harvard University. In November 2010. he spoke at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.[41]
He is married to Princess Nouf bint Fahd bin Khalid Al Saud, with whom he has seven children: Faisal, Muneera, Nura, Abdul Aziz, Saud, Mishail, and Mudhi.[42] After resigning as US ambassador, he went to his son's graduation in London.[43] His son Prince Abdul-Aziz won the second round of Porsche Middle East Cup.[44] At a University of South Florida event, he mentioned he has grandchildren and they sometimes ask him questions about Islam.[45]
Shortly after the passing of King Faisal, Turki and his siblings established the King Faisal Foundation to invest in education in Saudi Arabia.[3]
In person, Turki has been described as the antithesis of Prince Bandar. Turki has been described as cool-headed, soft-spoken, and avuncular.[46][46] He is the most Westernized and educated compared to other Saudi princes.[47]
| Preceded by Nawwaf bin Abdul Aziz |
Director of Intelligence of Saudi Arabia 1977–2001 |
Succeeded by Muqran bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud |