The exceptional king of the Saudi dynasty: Who is Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud?

Faisal, who was born in Riyadh in November 1906, received his education with his mother and grandfather because his father, Abdulaziz Al-i Saud, the leader of the Saud tribe, participated in the inter-tribal struggles that took place in the Hejaz region. He completed his memorization at a young age and received his scientific education with his grandfather.

In 1919, when he was only 13 years old, he was sent to Britain by his father to congratulate the British on the victory of World War I. Faisal stayed here for a while; He also observed England, Ireland, and France during this visit.

His father defeated Sharif Hussein after the war, took control of the Hejaz lands, and established the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, which seriously changed the balance in the region. Faisal, who returned to his country after his father's rule in Hejaz, assumed the duties of Hejaz Emirate and Minister of Foreign Affairs, respectively. After the official establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, he was appointed Prime Minister. Faisal, who was a very punctual and disciplined person, managed to become a member of a dynasty that stood out with his talents in the eyes of the state in a short time.

Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (14 April 1906 – 25 March 1975) was a Saudi Arabian statesman and diplomat who was King of Saudi Arabia from 2 November 1964 until his assassination in 1975. Prior to his ascension, he served as Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia from 9 November 1953 to 2 November 1964, and he was briefly regent to his half-brother King Saud in 1964. He was prime minister from 1954 to 1960 and from 1962 to 1975. Faisal was the third son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia.

A few years later, a very important event took place that would cause the historical transformation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 1938, it was discovered that the territory of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had one of the largest oil reserves in the world.

The Kingdom, which was poor until then due to infertile desert lands and long years of wars, suddenly began to become rich with the extraction of oil. While the British left these infertile desert lands to Arab tribes during World War I, they were not aware of the oil reserves in the region. Even though they wanted to extract oil from Saudi Arabian territory through major oil companies, Faisal's father, King Abdulaziz Al-i Saud, would make the agreement with the Americans.

The King and the President alone...

A meeting took place on February 14, 1945, the importance of which will be understood much better in the future. American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt met with King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia on the destroyer 'USS Quincy' anchored in the Bitter Lake on the Suez Canal.

During the meeting, where bilateral relations and world politics were discussed, Roosevelt thanked the King for allowing American companies to extract oil. During the meeting, which progressed on mutual sincerity and trust, King Abdulaziz told Roosevelt about the increasing Jewish population in Palestine and the threat posed by this population.

He asked the President to stop ongoing Jewish immigration and prevent the possible establishment of a Jewish state in Palestinian territory. Roosevelt accepted this offer and stated that he would not allow the establishment of a Jewish state in the Palestinian region as much as he could, and in return, he received assurances from Abdulaziz that the Saudi dynasty would not use oil as a weapon in international politics.

This meeting, which can be considered the beginning of America-Saudi Arabia relations, which are still at the center of discussions, had an undeniable importance for the history of the region. Ironically, history always brings to mind various coincidences and question marks. Franklin Roosevelt, who assured on behalf of the United States that a Jewish state would not be established within the borders of Palestine in his meeting with King Abdulaziz, fell ill with a headache on April 12, 1945, only 2 months after the meeting, and died suddenly. His wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, did not allow an autopsy to be performed on her husband's body, and his body was buried.

Exactly 3 years after Roosevelt's death, the Jewish National Council, led by David Ben Gurion, declared the official establishment of the State of Israel, and the United States became the first country to recognize Israel, just 11 minutes after the declaration of establishment.

After the death of King Abdulaziz in 1953, his son Prince Saud took the throne. The new King Saud, who suddenly found himself at the center of the prosperity and increasing wealth that oil brought to the country, was not as successful a ruler as his father. Royal expenses suddenly increased exponentially. The palaces and waste built all over the country had already caused rumors to spread among the people about the new king. Ultimately, the ulama and the royal family, who were disturbed by the endless luxury consumption and unnecessary expenses, wanted to put an end to this situation. Saud was dismissed in a silent coup for wasting the country's revenues and replaced by Crown Prince Faisal. Throughout the history of Saudi Arabia, King Saud was the only ruler who was dismissed due to his wastefulness.

King Faisal, the "king of exception" of the Saudi dynasty, ascended to the throne in 1964 after his brother Saud was deposed. Faisal, who knew internal and external relations and strengthened the ties of Saudi Arabia with neighboring countries; increased the prestige of his country in a very short time with the investments he made.

Saudi Arabia, which has a 'big brother' status in the eyes of other Muslim countries due to the Harem-i Sharif being located within its borders, has increased its reputation in the international arena thanks to the new king.

A big step: Organization of the Islamic Conference

The painful incident that took place in Masjid al-Aqsa in 1969 would serve as a good example of this big brotherhood. On August 21, Australian-born fanatic Michael Dennis Rohan set fire to the Qibla Mosque in Masjid al-Aqsa at dawn. Realizing the fire, Muslims tried to save Aksa from the flames with the materials they had. However, the fire had already grown and caused serious damage to the Masjid.

Due to the successive defeats in the wars with Israel and the humanitarian crisis, Muslim countries decided to establish an Islamic Conference Organization - now known as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation - under the leadership of Saudi Arabia. King Faisal, who led the establishment of the union, was instrumental in the establishment of an organization consisting of Muslim countries that came together on the denominator of Al-Aqsa, instead of Arab nationalism, which was very common in Arab countries at that time.

Yom Kippur War and the 1973 Oil Crisis

On the morning of June 5, 1967, Egypt, led by Gamal Abdel Nasser, suddenly found itself in a bloody war with the sudden attacks of Israel. Despite Saudi Arabia under the rule of Faisal providing weapons and material support, the war lasted only six days and resulted in a decisive Israeli victory, and the warplanes of the Egyptian army were destroyed by Israeli planes before they could even take off. At the end of the war, Israel; inflicted a great defeat on Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. Its territory was increased three and a half times and the Sinai Peninsula, which was of great importance for Egypt, was captured. More importantly, the reputation of Egypt, which has the highest level of nationalism in the Arab world and has a wide influence in the international arena thanks to its strong army, was destroyed.

Abdun Nasser, who was remembered for his strong rule over Egypt and his charisma before the masses, died of a heart attack after a meeting he attended on September 28, 1970. Defeats, heavy cigarette addiction, and Egypt's fall from prestige were among the main reasons for Abdel Nasser's death. As a leader who came through a coup, he left behind an Egypt struggling with political, military, and economic difficulties. He was replaced by a leader who would make a name for himself in the future: Anwar Sadat...

Anwar Sadat was aware that what Egypt needed to get back on its feet was a victory, albeit a small one, against Israel. He knew that he could not go all the way to Jerusalem, but even being able to take Sinai back would be enough to save his country's reputation and become an interlocutor in international politics again.

The war, which lasted about 3 weeks, ended as Sadat desired. The Egyptian army, which gained a certain victory in Sinai, stopped the operation after diplomatic calls from America and Israel. America now took Egypt into consideration and accepted that the Egyptian army, which was thought to have been destroyed, rose again within a few years.

Inevitable end

King Faisal was a man who could do anything to destroy Israel. As soon as the Yom Kippur War started, he declared that he would support Egypt militarily and politically, and he thought that Sadat would march all the way to Tel Aviv.

Faisal set out to do something that had never been done before.

He decided to break the promise his father had made to Roosevelt years ago in exchange for "not allowing a Jewish state within the borders of Palestine". He invited OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), which owns the vast majority of the world's oil reserves, to impose an oil embargo on countries that support America and Israel.

Almost all over the world, the oil valve was turned off at once. The sudden skyrocketing of oil prices caused the collapse of many stock markets and damaged the economies of especially industrially developed and developing countries.

Mutual showdowns and bilateral negotiations took place during the embargo process. In one of them, then-American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger came to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Faisal about ending the embargo and summarized his meeting with the King as follows:

“King Faisal looked quite angry, and in the hope of starting a dialogue between us, I told him in a humorous tone: My plane has run out of fuel. If you order to fill the tank of the plane, we are ready to pay the international price. The king did not smile, but raised his head and said to me sternly:

"I am an old man, my only wish before I die is to pray two rakats in the Masjid al-Aqsa! Can you help me with this?"

During the rest of the meeting, there were some harsher and more daring exchanges between the two. When Faisal said: "If you stop supporting Israel, the embargo will end," Kissinger threatened to bomb oil wells. Faisal gave the following answer to Kissinger, which will go down in history:

“Of course, you can bomb our oil wells. But do not forget that we and our ancestors lived on dates and camel milk, and we can live like that again; But you cannot live without oil anymore.”

In the following months, OPEC countries gradually began to lift the embargo and continue selling oil, which kept the country's economies afloat.

King Faisal was killed only 2 years after the beginning of the embargo, on March 25, 1975, during a meeting in his own palace where he received official delegations. The perpetrator of the assassination was the King's nephew, Faisal bin Musaid, who had been living in America for many years.