Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday refused to condemn Saudi Arabia for its execution of 47 convicts including a prominent Shiite cleric, saying it was an "internal legal matter" of the kingdom.

"The executions in Saudi Arabia are an internal legal matter. Whether you approve or not of the decision is a separate issue," Erdogan, who last month visited Riyadh in a new sign of Ankara's warm ties with the kingdom, said in a televised speech in his first reaction to the controversy.