Recep Tayyip Erdogan In The Gulf

The Middle East is the most attractive point for today’s politics. No, one can shape their foreign policy without considering the importance of this region. All the West and the rest of the world want control over this region. It is evident from recent developments that controlling this region is not relatively easy, and the superpowers understood that there are better choices than holding it. So, this understanding has led the superpowers to collaborate with this region in a friendly and peaceful manner. Although this calm behavior may be the superpowers’ only option, it may be a tackling strategy from their side.

The world sees UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, China, Russia, Pakistan, Qatar, Egypt, and Palestine as solid allies of today’s politics. The American control over this area is losing its strength, which has forced the American strategic partner in the Middle East- Israel, to think about its foreign policy and relations with America. In short, Israel is also considering enhancing their bondings with other nations else than America. We have discussed these details in the article China-A Mediator Between Palestine And Israel.

History Of Turks And Arabs Relations

In the last of 2010, an anti-government movement named Arab Springs was rising in the Arab World. This movement aimed to protest against slow economic growth and corruption, a burning issue in the Arab world. Turkiye fully supported this movement, but Saudi Arabia was not interested in supporting such actions. 

Qatar was accused of backing and supporting rebellion groups that led to instability. At that time, Saudi Arabia boycotted Qatar while Turkiye fully supported Qatar. This period is known as Gulf Crisis. Turkiye supported Qatar morally and sent troops to Qatar to deal with any miss happening. 

Khashoggi was a Saudi journalist who used to speak against US policies and was killed on his visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan vehemently condemned this action and asked for a just trial against the Saudi Arabian policy. At that time, these two primary reasons were the leading cause for upsetting relations between Turkiye And Saudi Arabia.

Tayyip Erdogan’s Visit To Saudi Arabia

After 2018, Tayyip Erdogan made great diplomatic efforts to resettle the relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkiye. Recently, Tayyip Erdogan made an essential visit to Saudi Arabia. This visit remains the center of attraction for all the world. Tayyip Erdogan and a delegation of 200 business people visited Saudi Arabia with a gift of a Turkish-made Electric Car to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince. This visit was successful as it resulted in the signing of different deals between the two countries.

The Importance Of Saudi Arabia And Turkiye Relations

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince agreed to buy Turkish-made Drones from Turkiye, considered one of Turkiye’s largest defence deals. Turkiye is suffering from an economic crisis, which is still vital to Muslim Unity. Turkiye is also linked with the West. Turkish annual inflation falls to 38%, and the current account deficit is almost 38 billion dollars. The Turkish currency has also fallen dramatically to a great extent and is considered one of the poorest currencies in the world. The Turkish Central Bank is also increasing interest rates. So, Turkiye needs economic stability and believes the Gulf States can help to stabilize its economy.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia wants to diversify their economy and reduce their dependence on Oil. So, for this purpose, they want Turkiye to bring their technology to Saudi Arabia and provide investment platforms to Saudi Arabia. The Turkish energy and defence sectors are also crucial for Saudi Arabia’s economy.

Tayyip Erdogan In Qasar Al Wattan Palace UAE

Qasar Al Watan Palace was the centre of attraction on the Turkish President’s visit to UAE, where the UAE government awarded him the Highest Civilian Honour. Tayyip Erdogan came with a Turkish Made Electric Car gift for the UAE President.

UAE was also previously supporting Turkiye in stabilizing its economy, and we have seen a currency swap of almost 5 billion dollars took place last year between Turkiye and UAE to stabilize the Turkish Lira. Nearly twenty-five thousand jobs in UAE and one lac jobs in Turkiye will be created by mutual collaboration. Another essential development between Turkiye and UAE is that they agreed upon setting up a high-level Strategic Council that the Presidents of both countries will lead. The Turkiye and UAE want to increase their trade deal which is presently at 20 billion dollars, up to 50 billion dollars.

Almost 13 agreements were signed between Turkiye and UAE to enhance their relations in tourism, technology, logistics, construction, artificial technology, defence, and advanced technology.

Tayyip Erdogan On Land Of Eternal Sunshine-Qatar

Tayyip Erdogan with another Turkish Made Electric car for the Emir Of Qatar. Qatar and Turkiye have everlasting strong relationships with each other. The Emir Of Qatar and the Turkish President recently gave a joint statement agreeing to take their relations to the highest level. Turkiye and Qatar have the same policy on Syria, Egypt, and Libya. The partnership between Qatar and Turkey has resulted in enhanced cooperation across multiple global entities, such as the UN and OIC.

So, overall an environment of regional connectivity is seen between Asia and Middle East. The good news is that the Gulf States also have a positive attitude towards establishing good ties with Asian countries like Turkiye and China. Moreover, Turkiye’s tilt toward the Gulf States also reflects these states’ importance in economy and development.

The conclusion is that the Gulf States want to decrease and gradually end their dependence on America by increasing their relations with Asian countries like Turkiye and China. The Gulf States have shown great flexibility in their foreign policy and shifted their interest from Geo Politics to Geo Economics. This will affect the region’s importance, and we can foresee Asia and the Middle East as the world’s superpowers in the coming years. This will change the power dynamics in the whole world.

Let’s see how these visits become fruitful for Turkiye and the Gulf States.