Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has made the first stop on his Gulf tour this week, visiting Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman in the Saudi city of Jeddah with the aim of securing investments for the ailing Turkish economy and repairing ties with deep-pocketed Arab neighbors. Relations between Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have been strained since the events following the Arab Spring over 10 years ago, with the neighbors frequently taking differing sides in regional conflicts. Erdoğan’s visit comes as the Turkish Lira hits record lows against the Euro and US Dollar, coupled with major increases in fuel and food prices. Since foreign exchange reserves in Turkey’s central bank dropped into negative territory in May, Erdoğan has indicated that Turkey would turn to its embattled Gulf neighbors for funds.
Erdoğan’s trip to visit Turkey’s Gulf neighbors follows a similar trip made in June by Mehmet Şimşek, Turkey’s new Minister of Treasury and Finance. Şimşek, who previously served in the post from 2009-2015, was appointed following Erdoğan’s victory in Turkey’s presidential runoff in late May. Şimşek’s appointment has been billed as a ‘return to economic orthodoxy’ following years of runaway inflation driven in part by Erdoğan’s insistence on low interest rates.
In his visit in Jeddah on Monday evening, Erdoğan gifted MBS a TOGG, Turkey’s first domestically developed electric car. The gifting of the car included a photo op in which the Saudi Crown Prince dropped the Turkish leader off at his nearby hotel using the new vehicle. Togg’s entry level model will sell for some 1.2 million Turkish Liras.
In addition to the gifting of the automobile, the meeting included the signing of five agreements related to direct investment between the two neighbors, and cooperation in the fields of communication, defense matters, and energy. Most notably, an agreement was signed involving the purchase of Turkish-produced Baykar drones by Riyadh. While details were not given related to the price of the drone deal, such a purchase promises a much needed influx of foreign cash.
Since 2011, Turkey has consistently found itself on the opposite side of regional conflicts from Arab neighbors such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Turkey’s support of Islamist movements in the region such as the Muslim Brotherhood has consistently pitted Ankara against these states, and the killing of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in İstanbul in 2018 brought relations with Riyadh to new lows. Turkey found itself pitted against the United Arab Emirates following revolutions in Egypt and Libya, with each state supporting opposing factions in the ensuing conflicts and coup d’etats. Signs of a diplomatic thaw first began to appear in late 2021, when Emirati premier made a visit to Ankara to discuss investment amidst record devaluation of the lira. Throughout Turkey’s years-long row with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Qatar has remained a staunch ally of Turkey, receiving the backing of Ankara throughout a diplomatic crisis in which Riyadh and Abu Dhabi accused Doha of sponsoring terrorism, which was not resolved until early 2021.
Following his stop in Jeddah, Erdoğan will travel to Qatar today (July 18), followed by a stop in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.
Written for Medyascope by Leo Kendrick
