A string of deals by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates has established Türkiye as an important new security partner for the Gulf monarchies, at a time when the United States is undertaking a drawdown of forces in the Middle East in line with its shift in foreign policy focus towards containing China and Russia,
SCMP wrote.
The news site recalled that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week made a landmark tour of the Gulf, securing 11.5 billion USD in financial assistance from the UAE to help shore up Turkey’s depleted foreign exchange reserves, fast-depreciating lira currency and yawning budgetary deficit.
Erdogan also reached agreements with the UAE and Saudi Arabia to establish joint defence production programmes with Türkiye, it added.
According to SCMP, the deals signed in the Gulf during Erdogan’s visit represent a rapid turnaround in relations since 2020.
“Many of the factors which led some Gulf Cooperation Council states to feel threatened by Türkiye’s foreign policy have drastically changed, giving Riyadh and Abu Dhabi less reason to perceive Ankara as a dangerous actor,” said Giorgio Cafiero, the CEO of Gulf State Analytics, a Washington-based geopolitical risk consultancy.
Not all suspicions have been removed and there are potential scenarios whereby geopolitical tensions could resurface, “making it difficult to predict the directions of Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s rapprochements with Türkiye,” he added, according to the article.
“But I believe that these Gulf states and Ankara can build lasting strategic partnerships as all the regional actors adjust to the realities of a more multipolar world and countries in the Middle East act with more agency and autonomy from Washington,” Cafiero said.
