Turki bin Abdullah Al Saud () (born 21 October 1971) is the seventh son of former King

Abdullah of Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (, ; 1 August 1924 – 23 January 2015) was King of Saudi Arabia, King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 1 August 2005 until his death in 2015. Prior to his accession, he was Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia si ...

and one of the grandsons of Saudi's founder

King Abdulaziz Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted as 1876, although a few sources give it as 1880. According to British author Robert Lacey's book ''The Kingdom'', ...

. He served as deputy governor and then, governor of

Riyadh Province The Riyadh Province ( '), is a province of Saudi Arabia, located in the geographic center of the country and the center of the Arabian Peninsula. It has an area of and with a 2022 population of 8,591,748, it is the second-largest region by ar ...

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 (; born 31 August 1985), also known as MBS or MbS, is the '' de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, formally serving as Crown Prince and Prime Minister. He is the heir apparent to the Saudi throne, ...

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

Riyadh Metro The Riyadh Metro (, ) is a rapid transit, rapid transit system serving Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Part of the King Abdulaziz Project for Riyadh Public Transport, it is the longest driverless metro in the world. The system consists of s ...

project and taking advantage of his influence to award contracts to his own companies. It was reported in August 2023 that after a trial he was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Early life and education

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

Shammar The tribe of Shammar () is a tribal Arab Qahtanite confederation, descended from the Tayy, which migrated into the northern Arabian Peninsula from Yemen in the second century. It is the largest branch of the Tayy, and one of the largest and mos ...

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. Then he went to

the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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, United States. The base is under the jurisdiction of the 802d Mission Support Group, Air Education and Training Command (AETC) and an enclave of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. He was also trained at King Fahd Air Base in

Taif Taif (, ) is a city and governorate in Mecca Province in Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarat Mountains, the city has a population of 563,282 people in 2022, mak ...

. 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

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 () 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 – the university was the first universit ...

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

the University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

Career

Turki was a military officer and an

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

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

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, Eastern Pro ...

Dhahran Dhahran (, ) is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 143,936 as of 2022, it is a major administrative center for the History of the oil industry in Saudi Arabia, Saudi ...

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, 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. Turki was appointed deputy governor of the Riyadh province on 14 February 2013, replacing Muhammad bin Saad 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 the 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 () (born 1945) is a Saudi royal, a grandson of Saudi Arabia's founder King Abdulaziz, who has served as the governor of Riyadh since 2015. Early life and education Prince Faisal was born in 1945. He is th ...

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 The 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, often referred to as the 1MDB scandal or just 1MDB, is an ongoing corruption, bribery and money laundering conspiracy in which the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) ...

. Prince Turki bin Abdullah is claimed to be the Saudi royal who gifted Malaysian Prime Minister

Najib Razak Mohammad Najib bin Abdul Razak (, ; born 23 July 1953) is a Malaysian politician who served as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2009 to 2018. In 2020, he was convicted of corruption in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, on ...

$700 million.

Arrest and trial

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. After being detained for nearly six years Prince Turki was sentenced to 17 years in prison in August 2023.

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.

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 (, ), also known as Turki, Eastern Turkic, or Chagatai Turkic (), is an extinct Turkic language that was once widely spoken across Central Asia. It remained the shared literary language in the region until the early 20th century. It was ...

1971 births Alumni of the University of Wales

Living people

Saudi Arabian military aviators Saudi Arabian people of Iraqi descent Saudi Arabian prisoners and detainees

Alumni of the University of Leeds Sons of kings