How far might Turkey, UAE reach in fence-mending bid?
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's reception of the UAE national security adviser has raised the prospect of a reset in acrimonious bilateral ties.
While President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s meeting with a senior Emirati official last week was a significant step toward thawing Turkey’s multifaceted feud with the United Arab Emirates and a number of converging interests are pushing the two sides closer, the path to reconciliation remains bumpy and fraught with uncertainty.
In a glaring U-turn in bilateral ties, Erdogan personally received the UAE’s national security adviser, Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Aug. 18, even though protocol would have required Turkey’s intelligence chief Hakan Fidan or Erdogan’s de facto security adviser Ibrahim Kalin to meet with the Emirati official.
As part of efforts to mend fences with Egypt and its Gulf allies, Turkey had already launched tentative contacts on an intelligence level with the UAE. The visit of the Emirati security chief, however, still came as a surprise as the agenda of the talks appeared aimed at a broad reset in bilateral ties, including in economic cooperation.
Speaking on a TV program after the meeting, Erdogan emphasized the prospect of “serious” Emirati investments in Turkey. The discussions involved a road map on investments and the deputy chair of Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund and the head of the presidential investment office took part in the talks, Erdogan said. “The UAE, I believe, will start serious investments in our country very soon,” he said, adding that he could soon meet with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the UAE’s de facto ruler.
