At the latter end of 2021 Turkish
president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s standing with much of the world was at a low
ebb At home the forecast for 2022 showed
Turkey on a steep economic decline fuelled by soaring inflation. Even in December 2021 the inflation rate in Turkey was
over 36 percent. Moreover, Erdogan had the forthcoming parliamentary and presidential
elections, scheduled for June 2023, well in mind. So Turkey set in train a wholesale rebooting and
softening of its international relations.
A change of approach was signalled to the EU, to Egypt, to Iran, to
Greece, surprisingly to Israel – and yes, even to Saudi Arabia.
Relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia had
been at rock bottom ever since the afternoon of October 2, 2018 when journalist
Jamal Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
(MBS), was seen entering the Saudi consulate building in Istanbul, never to
emerge.
Having listened to purported
recordings of conversations inside the consulate made by Turkish intelligence,
a UN special rapporteur concluded that the journalist had been "brutally
slain" inside the building by a 15-strong team of Saudi agents, and that
his body was then dismembered.
Khashoggi’s murder sparked worldwide outrage. Erdogan denounced the assassination as “savage” and “premeditated”. US intelligence agencies concluded that the Crown Prince, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, had approved the operation. MBS denied playing any role.
A year after the
killing, a Saudi court found five people guilty of directly participating in
the killing and sentenced them to death. The sentences were later commuted to
20-year prison terms. Three others received lesser sentences for covering up
the crime. Turkey rejected this outcome
as "scandalous", and for almost two years a court in Istanbul had
been trying 26 Saudi officials in absentia on charges of premeditated
murder or destroying evidence.
That was the position on
April 28, 2022 when Erdogan, in pursuit of his policy of resetting Turkey’s
foreign relations, flew to Saudi Arabia for meetings with King Salman and the
virtual ruler of the country, MBS. It
was not long before the Saudi state news agency was publishing images of the
Turkish president embracing the Crown Prince and in close discussion with his
father, the King.
The visit came as Turkey’s
annual inflation rate hit 70 percent and domestic prices across the board were
soaring ever higher. Erdogan, seen by
the Turkish public as primarily responsible for the problem, came to Saudi
Arabia seeking what he termed “a new era” in bilateral ties, and no doubt financial
assistance. His Saudi hosts undoubtedly
had requirements of their own as a quid pro quo for any assistance they would
offer.
Turkey’s support for the
Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas had long been a bone of contention with Saudi
Arabia, and indeed with Egypt and with Israel. On his return to Turkey Erdoğan, asserting
that “diplomatic circumstances have changed”, shut down the Brotherhood’s
Mekameleen TV station and restricted the group’s public relations. In addition,
the Turkish government began expelling Hamas activists, including members of
the Izzedin al-Qassam Brigades, its military wing. These moves were clearly a direct message to
Saudi Arabia, and the world, that a sea-change in Turkey’s foreign relations
was in progress.
Erdogan’s discussions with
MBS and his subsequent actions must have gone down well in Riyadh, to say
nothing of the Turkish government’s decision on June 17, 2022 to drop all
charges against suspects in the Khashoggi case and hand it over to Saudi Arabia. For on June 22 MBS was stepping onto Turkish
soil, beginning what might be described as an historic visit to the country.
Saudi’s economy is currently
booming. Saudi Aramco says that as global economic growth recovered from a
pandemic induced downturn, its 2021 net profit soared by more than 120 percent. In short, Saudis are in a position to invest
abroad, and Saudi Arabia is in apposition to support and improve the ailing
Turkish economy.
With the 2023
presidential elections in mind, Erdogan is no doubt hoping to replicate his
success when normalizing Turkey’s relations with the United Arab Emirates in
February 2022. The Gulf state celebrated the new-found
friendship by signing 12 agreements across the defense, commercial and
cultural sectors and announcing a $10 billion fund to support
investments in Turkey.
Interviewed about the
implications of the new-found Saudi-Turkish relationship, Saudi businessman
Abdullah Al-Maleihi, head of Al-Tamayoz Holding Company, said that companies in
Saudi Arabia and Turkey have already opened negotiations about expanding
business dealings in a variety of fields.
Turkish real estate, he said, is considered one of the most popular
Turkish commercial sectors to attract Saudi investors, while the infrastructure
sector within Saudi Arabia offers great opportunities to Turkish companies. He believed
that the projected expansion of economic, investment and commercial cooperation
would lead to the reorganization of the Saudi-Turkish Business Council.
A new era of bilateral trade, business and government-to-government cooperation between Turkey and Saudi Arabia seems about to dawn. The development is to be welcomed for its own sake. It is also a significant strengthening of the anti-Iran alliance that is building in the Middle East.
Published in the Jerusalem Post and the Jerusalem Post on-line, 5 July 2022:
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-711189
https://www.eurasiareview.com/15072022-saudi-arabia-and-turkey-mend-fences-oped/
No comments:
Post a Comment