ANKARA — A truce between bitter regional rivals
Turkey and the United Arab Emirates has calmed tensions that fueled conflicts
including Libya's war, officials and diplomats say, after years of animosity
and insults.
اضافة اعلان
But with political differences still running deep, the two
countries are expected to focus on building economic ties and de-escalating,
rather than resolving, an ideological rift that has drawn a faultline through
the Middle East.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the UAE's de
facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, spoke by phone last
week following contacts between intelligence and government officials.
Erdogan, who a year ago said Turkey could cut diplomatic
relations with Abu Dhabi after it set up ties with Israel, also discussed UAE
investment in Turkey with Abu Dhabi's national security adviser.
"The UAE is interested in exploring prospects of
reinforcing ties," an Emirati official said, pointing to trade and
investment opportunities in transportation, health, and energy.
The talks follow earlier efforts by Turkey to ease tensions
with UAE allies Saudi Arabia and Egypt, with a delegation from Cairo due in
Ankara on Tuesday. Those contacts have so far yielded little, but some see the
UAE track moving more swiftly.
"It's going very fast," said a diplomat in the
Gulf. "Faster than many people thought it would. They have turned the
page."
A senior Turkish official described Erdogan's call last week
with Sheikh Mohammed as a significant move towards overcoming disputes which
have plagued their relations, saying the two countries could work together in
the Middle East.
"But first there will be steps taken in terms of the
economy," the official said. Other issues "are not agreed, but a
desire was formed (to tackle) the large part of these problems."
Cost of rivalry
The rift stems from the Arab uprisings, when Turkey backed
the Muslim Brotherhood and their Islamist allies challenging entrenched autocrats
from Tunisia to Syria — alarming the UAE's dynastic rulers, who see the
Brotherhood as a political and security threat.
Turkey also sided with Qatar in a Gulf dispute, putting it
at odds with the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, while Turkish support last year
helped Libya's UN-backed government drive back UAE-supported forces trying to
seize the capital.
The two countries have traded accusations of interference beyond their borders, and Erdogan once chided the UAE's foreign
minister as an impudent nouveau riche when he retweeted comments critical
of Ottoman forces — forebears of modern Turkey.
In Somalia, Turkey and the UAE have competed for influence.
In Syria, Turkey still supports fighters opposed to President Bashar Al-Assad
while the UAE, which once backed rebels fighting him, has opened an embassy in Damascus.
Turkish officials and Gulf diplomats say both countries
recognize their geopolitical tensions came at an economic price, heightened by
the COVID-19 pandemic.
That cost was felt particularly by Erdogan in Turkey, where
stubbornly high 19 percent inflation has driven up the cost of living and where
state banks sold $128 billion in foreign reserves last year in an attempt to
support the tumbling lira.
"The cost of strained ties is not sustainable in the
region when it comes to Turkey, the UAE and Saudi Arabia," a second
Turkish official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The departure of US President Donald Trump removed a leader
who emboldened their rival regional interventions.
Although no agreement has been announced on investments, the
two countries already have an economic platform to build on.
Unlike Saudi Arabia, which maintains an unofficial boycott
of Turkish exports, the UAE says it remains Turkey's largest regional trading
partner. Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth funds have also made significant recent
investments in Turkey's online grocer Getir and e-commerce platform Trendyol.
Political differences will be harder to overcome, with Egypt
and its Gulf allies insistent that Ankara pull out troops and Turkey-backed
Syrian fighters from
Libya, a demand which diplomats say is a priority for
Cairo and its allies.
Nevertheless, a decade on from the "Arab Spring"
the revolutions are mostly over and the Muslim Brotherhood has been weakened —
easing two of Abu Dhabi's main sources of friction with Erdogan, who strongly
backed Brotherhood figures.
"For Saudi Arabia and the UAE this is not the priority
file that it used to be," said Galip Dalay, a fellow at the Robert Bosch
Academy in Berlin.
In a gesture to Cairo earlier this year, which would also
have been noted in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, Turkey asked Egyptian opposition
channels including Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist-leaning broadcasters, to
tone down criticism of Egypt.
Turkey still blocks access to the websites of some UAE organizations,
including the state news agency, but the government has halted what was once a
regular barrage of criticism directed at the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
"There is a desire on both sides to deescalate, and see
what happens," Dalay said.
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