Turkey’s president has postponed a tour of African countries in order to attend the funeral of Saudi monarch, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, in Riyadh.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan told journalists that his program in Africa would continue later.

According to the president’s statement, he will leave for Djibouti after the Saudi king’s funeral.

In a statement carried by Saudi TV in the early hours of Friday, the Saudi Royal Court announced the death of King Abdullah. It reported that Crown Prince Salman was the new king and Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz would be the country’s new Crown Prince.

Abdullah, 90, had recently suffered a lung infection and was using a breathing tube.

Erdogan’s visit to Somalia, scheduled for Friday, will take place on Sunday, Jan. 25. The Turkish head of state completed the first stop of his official visit to the Horn of Africa nations by visiting Ethiopia on Thursday.

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