President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has embarked on a three-nation Gulf visit, starting with Saudi Arabia, aimed at attracting foreign investment to strengthen Turkey’s economy.
During his visit to Jeddah, Erdogan will meet with King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman before heading to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar later in the week.
Erdogan stated that joint investment and commercial activities with these countries will be the primary agenda during the visits, with the goal of further enhancing bilateral trade.
Over the past 20 years, trade between Turkey and the Gulf countries has increased from $1.6 billion to around $22 billion. Erdogan expressed the intention to explore ways to significantly increase this figure through business forums organized during the trip.
This visit marks Erdogan’s second trip to Saudi Arabia since the recent improvement in relations. The relationship between the two countries had been strained following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
However, with ties now on the mend, Erdogan visited Saudi Arabia in April 2022, and Crown Prince Mohammed visited Turkey in June of the previous year.
Erdogan’s Gulf trip comes at a time when Turkey is grappling with currency devaluation and soaring inflation, which have negatively impacted its economy.
During the visit, several agreements will be signed between the two countries as Ankara seeks financial support from non-Western partners, according to a senior Saudi official.
Following his Gulf tour, Erdogan will travel to northern Cyprus, which Turkey invaded and occupied in 1974. This visit comes after his re-election in May for another five-year term. Sinem Cengiz, a researcher at Qatar University, highlighted the significance of Erdogan’s Gulf visit after the recent critical elections in Turkey, emphasizing the importance of the Gulf states in Turkish foreign policy.
The growing interest of Gulf countries in investing across various sectors is seen as a boost for Turkey, which aims to increase exports to alleviate its economic challenges, according to an expert on Gulf-Turkish relations.
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