Mohammed Al-Turki – A Descendant of Arms Dealers in Saudi Arabia and an Entertainment Advisor to Bin Salman

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman relies on a new generation of young power dignitaries who are permeating the various sectors of the state wheel as symbols of the rising power.

Among them is the Saudi businessman and producer, Mohammed al-Turki, the young man who represents the different front of the Saudi regime, with regard to cinema and media production, and who has strong ties with the West.

Al-Turki is promoting in Europe and the United States the coming era and the future of the more open kingdom under the leadership of Bin Salman.

He and a large group are trying to attract the makers of the seventh art and leading actors to the conservative country, after years of isolation.

But at the same time, those whom Bin Salman assigned in particular are working to wash his reputation globally, specifically, after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, that greatly damaged the image of the Saudi crown prince.

Power and Family

Mohammed Abdulaziz Ali al-Turki was born on June 3, 1986, in the city of Al-Khobar in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and studied his primary educational stages in Dhahran schools.

He is also the son of Saudi businessman Abdulaziz al-Turki, who, along with his brother Saleh, owns two of the largest business conglomerates in Saudi Arabia, Al-Rawabi Holding and Nesma.

His family is one of the wealthiest families in the kingdom, serving as a local partner for foreign companies looking to win Saudi public sector contracts, specifically in the construction, petroleum and arms sector.

His family is known as one of the major arms dealers in the country and has a wide and multiple influence because of this characteristic, it is considered one of the families associated with the ruling family in particular.

To find out the extent of the strength of the family of Mohammed al-Turki, their company, Nesma, since 2012, assumed a joint venture partnership with the American Raytheon Group to develop the capabilities of command, control, communications and intelligence at the Saudi Ministry of Defense.

The ministry at that time was under the supervision of Salman bin Abdulaziz, who later became King of Saudi Arabia.

As for Mohammed al-Turki himself, he knew about his passion for cinema since his childhood, and he tells about this in one of the dialogues that the reason for this was his father.

He was keen with him to watch famous American films, which led to the young child's fondness for the field as a whole.

So, after Al-Turki finished high school, he traveled to the British capital, London. 

He studied and graduated in Management, Film Production, and Media Communication at Regent's Private University.

But after returning to his country, he worked for a year in his father's company in the field of petroleum, then he changed the course of his life, then decided to travel again, and settle in Hollywood for a period of time.

To Attract Stars

The beginnings of Al-Turki's rise in the world of American cinema was in 2010, when he produced a movie called The Imperialists Are Still Alive, starring French actress Elodie Bouchez.

In 2012, Al-Turki consolidated his rising position in Hollywood, when he produced 4 American films starring first-class stars, led by Arbitrage starring Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon and Tim Roth.

Al-Turki's distinguished relationship with the international film industry, which no Saudi has preceded, made him in the ranks of the crown prince's elite.

As such, he has built a large network of relationships in California over the past ten years, where he worked hard to collect the stars for the film industry, according to what was published by the Saudi website, Esquire Arabia, in early January 2022.

The Saudi businessman also co-financed films such as Crisis, starring Nicholas Jarecki, who appeared in 2020 with Gary Oldman, Armie Hammer and Evangeline Lilly.

Mohammed al-Turki is considered a model for a new generation of Saudi businessmen who are close to Bin Salman.

His Instagram account displays photos in which he flaunts his high-level friendships with international actors such as Michelle Rodriguez and Ed Westwick.

This young man succeeded in attracting many French movie stars, including Catherine Deneuve and Vincent Cassel, as well as Thierry Fremaux (the chief organizer of the Cannes International Film Festival) to the Red Sea Film Festival, from 6 to 15 December 2021, the event was considered the first of its kind to be organized in Saudi Arabia.

The festival was held in the large coastal city of Jeddah and opened its doors just two days after French President Emmanuel Macron visited the kingdom.

Bin Salman, and behind him, Mohammed al-Turki, aimed to classify the festival as one of the events that must be installed in the world of the global film industry, similar to the Venice and Cannes Film Festivals.

Activities and Tools

On the other hand, Al-Turki's life was not without controversy and excitement, and lavish parties for world stars.

For example, on November 26, 2014, reality TV star Kim Kardashian posted a picture on Instagram, while she was on a cruise ship with her friend Carla, actress Michelle Rodriguez, and Saudi producer Mohammed al-Turki.

At the same time, Mohammed al-Turki posted a picture of him on Instagram, combining him with Kim alone.

The ship, according to a report by Al-Masry Al-Youm website, was owned by Al-Turki, who was at the time in Dubai.

Those pictures raised a set of questions about what might bring together one of the most famous sexy women in the world and a Hollywood heroine with a young Saudi man who was unknown to the public at the time.

However, the reality revealed that this picture is only one among many that the account of Mohammed al-Turki abounds on social networking sites.

Which fits with one of the most important pillars and arms of entertainment in the new politics of the country under the rule of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

According to what the French Intelligence Online website published in a report on December 28, 2021, Al-Turki has his own tools and skills to help bring the best international movie-goers to Saudi Arabia.

“He was able to count on many old friends, among them the French-Tunisian film producer Tarak Ben Ammar, whose daughter, model, actress and singer Sonia, spends regular vacations with Al-Turki,” it stated.

“Ben Ammar worked for a long time as director of the international entertainment and media group Vivendi, and is close to its president (Vincent Ballery),” the website added.

“The enthusiastic Mohammed al-Turki has another colleague in Vivendi to help him in Saudi Arabia, former journalist Dominique Delporte serves as a member of the group's supervisory board, through his company, he is helping the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) to become a soft power in the creative industries in the Middle East,” it stated.

In April 2021, the director of the Vivendi Group opened an office in Riyadh in partnership with the Saudi Research and Marketing Group (a media company owned by the clan surrounding King Salman bin Abdulaziz), Badr bin Abdullah was its president for a while, but he is now president of the Red Sea Film Festival.