Economy: Erdogan in the Gulf region: attracting investments in Turkey

Against the background of the economic crisis in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan embarked on a trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

He hopes his visit will attract “considerable investments” from the Gulf region to Turkey, Erdogan told journalists in Istanbul. Potential areas of cooperation include defence, energy and infrastructure.

Difficult economic situation in Turkey

“The crises in the Islamic world require close coordination and cooperation between Turkey and the Gulf States,” Erdogan continued. The volume of trade between his country and the states of the Gulf region has increased from 1.6 billion dollars (about 1.4 billion euros) to 22 billion dollars (about 19.6 billion euros) in the past two decades.

The people in Turkey suffer from the high cost of living, persistently high inflation and unemployment rates, and the weak national currency, the lira. In view of the difficult economic situation and the immense costs after the devastating earthquakes in February, Erdogan, who began his third term as president in May, recently had to significantly increase several taxes.

Before leaving for the Gulf trip, Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul that Turkey is committed to normalizing relations with neighboring Syria, which includes direct talks with President Bashar al-Assad. However, the Turkish military cannot withdraw from northern Syria.

At the beginning of March, however, al-Assad said he would only meet Erdogan if Turkey was ready “to leave the Syrian territories completely”. He was referring to the Turkish military presence in northern Syria.