Desk Report
Publish: 14 Feb 2022, 04:26 pm
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan || Photo: Collected
Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan visits Monday the United Arab Emirates for the first time in nearly a decade,
as ties improve between the two countries.
Turkey and the energy-rich
Emirates have suffered from years of difficult relations, backing opposing
sides in regional conflicts, and sparring on other issues such as gas
exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.
But tension eased after Abu Dhabi
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed travelled to Ankara in November on the first
high-level visit since 2012.
Following that visit, the UAE
announced a $10 billion fund for investments in Turkey, where the economy has
been reeling and inflation has surged to a near 20-year high in January.
The two countries also signed 10
security, economic and technological agreements, according to the official UAE
news agency WAM.
Erdogan's visit, the first since
2013, "will open a new, positive page in bilateral relations", Anwar
Gargash, adviser to the UAE president, said in a tweet.
Abdul Khaleq Abdallah, a
political science professor in the UAE, tweeted on Sunday that the two
countries should aim to bolster a "strategic political partnership".
Erdogan's visit comes as the UAE
faces a growing threat from Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who have in
recent weeks launched a series of drone and missile attacks on the Gulf country
and prompted increased defence cooperation with the United States and France.
"I believe that Turkey and
the UAE together can contribute to the regional peace, stability and
prosperity," Erdogan said in an op-ed in the Emirati English-language daily
Khaleej Times.
"As Turkey, we do not
separate the security and stability of the UAE and our other brothers in the
Gulf region from the security and stability of our own country.
"We believe wholeheartedly
in the importance of deepening our cooperation in this context in the
future," he added.
Ties between Turkey and the
UAE were particularly tense after Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain cut all
links with Qatar -- a close ally of Ankara -- in 2017. Relations were restored
in January 2021.
Erdogan has since last year
sought to improve ties with regional rivals in the face of increasing
diplomatic isolation that has caused foreign investment to dry up -- particularly
from the West.
In the op-ed published this
weekend, he said Turkey wanted to advance cooperation with the UAE on several
fronts, including "climate change, water and food security".
"This cooperation will have
positive reflections not only in bilateral relations but also at the regional
level," he added.
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