(Dubai) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected in the United Arab Emirates on Monday for his first official visit to the Gulf country since 2013, with the aim of strengthening cooperation with his former rival.
Posted at 6:31 a.m.
Mr. Erdogan’s visit follows that in November of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, de facto ruler of the Emirates, who was welcomed with great honors in Ankara.
Abu Dhabi maintained until recently a great enmity against the power of the Turkish president, accusing him of supporting political Islam and opposing on various issues in the Middle East, in particular in Libya and in the crisis with Qatar. .
« Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the United Arab Emirates […] opens a new page and it is in line with the Emirates’ objective of strengthening the bridges of communication and cooperation for stability and prosperity in the region,” Emirati presidential adviser Anwar Gargash tweeted on Sunday.
During his visit to Turkey, Mohammed ben Zayed announced the launch of a fund of nearly 9 billion euros to support investments in Turkey.
The UAE hopes to double or triple trade volumes with Turkey, which it sees as a route to new markets through its logistics network, according to remarks in January by Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani al- Zeyoudi.
The volume of trade between the two countries amounted in the first half of 2021 to more than 26.4 billion dirhams (6.3 billion euros), with a growth jump of 100%, compared to the same period. in 2020, the official Emirati news agency WAM said.
Total Emirati investments in Turkey reached nearly 4.4 billion euros at the end of 2020, still according to WAM, while Turkish investments in the Emirates-concentrated in construction, real estate, finance, insurance, industry-amount to some 312 million euros.
A small state with big ambitions, the Emirates have embarked on regional diplomatic offensives of seduction in recent months, while their economy is suffering from fluctuations in oil prices and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Abu Dhabi normalized its relations with Israel in 2020 and multiple trade agreements have been signed since.
Ankara, for its part, is seeking to improve its relations in the region, at a time when Turkey is going through a major economic crisis, with record inflation due to the plummeting of the Turkish lira.