Turki bin Abdullah Al Saud ( ar, الأمير تركي بن عبد الله آل سعود) (born 21 October 1971) is the seventh son of King

Abdullah of Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, عبدالله بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود ''ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al ʿAzīz Āl Saʿūd'', Najdi Arabic pronunciation: ; 1 August 1924 – 23 January 2015) was King of Saudi Arabia, King and Pri ...

. He served as deputy governor and then, governor of

Riyadh Province The Riyadh Province ( ar, منطقة الرياض '), also known as the Riyadh Region, is a region of Saudi Arabia, located in the geographic center of the country. It has an area of and with a 2017 population of 8,216,284, it is the second-la ...

from 2013 to 29 January 2015. He was one of the 11 princes detained in November 2017 by

Mohammad bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...

as a part of his anti-corruption drive on accusations of corruption in the

Riyadh Metro The Riyadh Metro ( ar, قطار الرياض ', ) is a rapid transit system under construction in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia. It is part of the King Abdulaziz Project for Riyadh Public Transport and will consist of six metro lines ...

project and taking advantage of his influence to award contracts to his own companies. As of June 2021 he was still in detention.

Early life and education

Turki bin Abdullah was born on 21 October 1971. He is the seventh son of King Abdullah. His mother is Tathi bint Mishan Al Faisal Al Jarba, a member of the Iraqi branch of the

Shammar The tribe of Shammar ( ar, شَمَّر, Šammar) is a tribal Arab Qahtan confederation, descended from the Yemeni tribe of Tayy as they originated in Yemen before migrating into present day Saudi Arabia, It is the biggest branch of Tayy tribe. I ...

tribe. He has six blood siblings, including Prince Mishaal and Princess Oraib, wife of Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Salman who has been in detention since early 2018 together with his father. Prince Turki began his higher education at

King Faisal Air Academy The King Faisal Air Academy () is a military officer academy and flight school in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia founded on 10 January 1968. History Founded on 10 January 1968, by Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Defense and Aviation, King Fai ...

. Then he went to

the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to continue his education, and trained at

Lackland Air Force Base Lackland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located in Bexar County, Texas. The base is under the jurisdiction of the 802d Mission Support Group, Air Education and Training Command (AETC) and an enclave of the city of Sa ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. He was also trained at King Fahd Air Base in

Taif Taif ( ar, , translit=aṭ-Ṭāʾif, lit=The circulated or encircled, ) is a city and governorate in the Makkan Region of Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarat M ...

. Then he attended a course of command and staff at Joint Command College in

the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and received a master's degree in military science. He also holds a master's degree in strategic studies, which he obtained from the

University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff � ...

. As of 2013 Prince Turki was a PhD candidate in international strategic studies at

the University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

Career

Turki bin Abdullah was a military officer and an

F-15 The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's ...

pilot at the Royal Saudi Air Force. In October 1997 he was promoted to the rank of captain pilot. Then he was promoted to the rank of colonel. In July 2006 Prince Turki was decorated with the rank of lieutenant colonel pilot. Then Prince Turki worked at

King Abdulaziz Air Base King Abdulaziz Air Base () , also known as Dhahran Air Base and formerly Dhahran International Airport, Dhahran Airport and Dhahran Airfield, is a Royal Saudi Air Force base located in Dhahran in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Located west ...

Dhahran Dhahran ( ar, الظهران, ''Al-Dhahran'') is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 240,742 as of 2021, it is a major administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. Together with the nearby cit ...

as the commander of Squadron 92, 3rd air wing with a rank of group captain. In 2010 Prince Turki began to serve as the commander of the Red Flag-4 exercise group. In addition, Prince Turki was the head of the board of directors of the Saudi Equestrian Fund. He also has several business investments in Saudi Arabia, including an aviation company named Al Obayya Corp. Prince Turki was appointed deputy governor of the Riyadh province on 14 February 2013, replacing

Muhammad bin Saad Muhammad bin Saad Al Saud (born 1944) is former deputy governor of Riyadh Province and a member of the House of Saud. He has been in detention since March 2020. Early life and education Muhammad bin Saad was born in Riyadh in 1944. His father i ...

in the post. Therefore, he became deputy of the governor, Khalid bin Bandar, who was also appointed the same day. On 14 May 2014 he was appointed governor of Riyadh at rank of minister. Prince Turki's term as governor ended on 29 January 2015 when

Faisal bin Bandar Al Saud Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, فيصل بن بندر بن عبد العزيز آل سعود) (born 1945) is a House of Saud, Saudi royal who has served as the governor of Riyadh since 2015. Early life and education Prince Faisal ...

was appointed to the post.

Controversy

In 2005 Prince Turki bin Abdullah co-founded the PetroSaudi, a private oil company. The company grew from drilling and oilfield management into trading, opening offices in London's Mayfair district with pictures of Saudi royalty and decked with national flags. The company is embroiled in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal. Prince Turki bin Abdullah is claimed to be the Saudi royal who gifted Malaysian Prime Minister

Najib Razak Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak ( ms, محمد نجيب بن عبد الرزاق, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, ; born 23 July 1953) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 6th prime minister of Malaysi ...

$700 million.

Arrest

On 4 November 2017 Turki bin Abdullah Al Saud was detained on accusations of corruption in the Riyadh Metro project and taking advantage of his influence to award contracts to his own companies in a "corruption crackdown" conducted by a new royal anti-corruption committee in Saudi Arabia. As of September 2020 Prince Turki was still in captivity.

Achievements

Prince Turki was one of the key characters for Riyadh's metro creation. Prince Turki was an active member of King Abdulaziz Foundation, as well as Prince Muhammed bin Abdulaziz Hospital in Riyadh. He assisted in the "intellectual security" inauguration ceremony alongside the

Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice ( ar, هيئة الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر, hayʾa al-ʾamr bil-maʿrūf wan-nahī ʿan al-munkar, abbreviated CPVPV and colloquially termed '' ...

Personal life

Prince Turki was the son-in-law of Prince Khalid bin Sultan. He married Hala bint Khalid on 14 January 2010. They have a daughter.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saud, Turki Abdullah

Turki Chagatai (چغتای, ''Čaġatāy''), also known as ''Turki'', Eastern Turkic, or Chagatai Turkic (''Čaġatāy türkīsi''), is an extinct Turkic literary language that was once widely spoken across Central Asia and remained the shared literar ...

1971 births Alumni of the University of Wales

Living people

Saudi Arabian people of Iraqi descent Saudi Arabian prisoners and detainees