By Hajira Khota
02:09:2021

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke by phone with the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Turkey and the United Arab Emirates leaders held a phone discussion to discuss bilateral ties and regional developments, signalling further cooperative efforts to restore the years-long and damaged relations.

Through their intelligence services, Turkey and the UAE were in talks to narrow their differences on several bilateral and regional issues, including the Libya crisis. After the UAE criticised Turkey’s robust reaction to Abdel Fattah al- Sisi, which resulted in the fall of Egypt’s first elected President, Mohammed Morsi, in mid-2013, relations between the two nations had deteriorated.

Radio Islam International interviewed Hassan Abdullah, TRT Journalist live from Turkey; “Turkey and the UAE chose opposite sides in several regional conflicts in recent years, including Libya, Syria and Yemen”.
Turkey’s meeting with senior UAE officials is part of the country’s recent efforts to strengthen relations with Arab countries and ease tensions over competing claims to Eastern Mediterranean waters, the Libyan and Yemeni conflicts, and Gulf issues, in favour of increasing economic cooperation.

According to reports, the two sides talked about trade and investment potential, economic cooperation, and undefined “regional issues of common interest.”

Early this year, Abu Dhabi began to improve connections with Turkey that may help trade. At the same time, Erdoğan’s poll ratings hit all-time lows due to dissatisfaction with the government’s economic management.

The meeting with the Emirati official is part of a more considerable effort by Turkey, which is becoming increasingly isolated, to restore strained ties with regional countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

At a time when Ankara is intensifying efforts to heal its tense ties with Cairo and certain Gulf Arab states after years of difficulties, Erdoğan stated that Turkey seeks to maximise collaboration with Egypt and Gulf nations “on a win-win basis.”

During a nearly three-year feud with the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Egypt, the UAE has sought to heal ties with Qatar, which has leaned on Turkey for support. Due to overlapping goals in light of changing realities in the region, the debate is gathering momentum.

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