Turkey’s good words not worth much to Saudi Arabia
Turkey’s efforts to mend ties with the Gulf bloc don't pass Riyadh's tacit preconditions.
In parallel with its normalization efforts with Egypt, Turkey is now trying to mend ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but it seems to be trapped in a position in which it has to make concessions.
As part of these efforts, Ankara last week extended an olive branch to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, but Riyadh’s response to Ankara's gesture failed to break the ice as Saudi Arabia announced that it would close eight Turkish schools in the kingdom.
According to Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu Agency, Turkish Education Ministry-affiliated schools in Tabuk, Riyadh, Taif and Jeddah provinces were sent written notices, while the schools in Dammam and Abha were verbally notified by officials. The report said the decision also involves the schools in Mecca and Medina. The schools were also told they would continue to operate until the end of spring term and that authorities would help students enroll in other schools. Citing Turkish diplomatic sources, Anadolu said some 2,250 students who are currently receiving education at these schools would experience difficulties in other schools as their Arabic is limited. Currently, there are 34 Turkish Education Ministry-affiliated schools operating in Saudi Arabia.
In response to the Saudi outlets’ news reports over the closure decision in March, the Turkish officials said there had been ongoing contacts between Turkish and Saudi authorities to reverse the decision, yet the official notifications sent to the schools indicate the contacts have failed.
