Stores in Saudi Arabia expand boycott of Turkish products – Erm...

Saudi stores have begun removing various Turkish products, from pickled grape leaves to coffee and cheeses, from their shelves after calls in the kingdom to boycott these products.

Turkish exporters of textiles and other goods recently complained of excessive delay in Saudi customs, they said.

Earlier this month, the President of the Saudi Chamber of Commerce called for “boycotting all that is Turkish,” stressing that it is “the responsibility of every Saudi, the trader and the consumer, in response to the continuing hostility of the Turkish government against our leadership, our country and our citizens.”

After this call, major supermarket chains in Saudi Arabia, including “Abdullah Al-Othaim Markets”, “Tamimi” and “Panda”, announced that they would stop importing and selling Turkish products.

Common positions

Saudi Prince Sattam bin Khalid Al Saud said, via Twitter, interacting with the campaign:People’s boycott against Turkey It is a popular expression and stance against its policies and repeated abuses against Arab countries. Nobody will force you to boycott these products, but know that in this position you are as if you support these policies, so do not be a tool against your country because of a product that you can dispense with and find an alternative.

“Abdullah Al-Othaim Markets” said, in a statement, on “Twitter”, that the decision came “in solidarity with the popular campaign to boycott, our leaders, our government and our security are an untouchable red line.”

Some shops stated that they will continue selling Turkish products until the current stock is depleted.

In a Riyadh store, employees removed “made in Turkey” products from a large number of shelves, and filled carts with various products such as: coffee, chocolate and boxes of pickled vegetables, and replaced Turkish cheeses with “made in Egypt” cheeses.

“This is a very sensitive issue,” said the manager of one of the stores, preferring not to be named, refusing to address the fate of the goods that were not sold or the losses that the store would incur.

Negative impression

Amid doubts about the possibility of Turkey filing a complaint with the “World Trade Organization”, the Saudi authorities confirm that they have not placed any restrictions on Turkish products and that the boycott campaign is led by citizens.

However, a joint statement issued by 8 prominent Turkish groups stated that Saudi companies were “forced to sign letters obliging them not to import products from Turkey,” as she claimed.

In Ankara, the Turkish Contractors Union reported that there are what it described as “various obstacles” to trade with Saudi Arabia, such as: the lack of invitation to the Turks to participate in soliciting offers, the difficulty in obtaining visas for Turkish employees, and the delay in payment.

The union estimates that “the negative impression of Turkey led to losses of $ 3 billion in the Middle East for our contractors last year”.

He added that Saudi Arabia, which was in second place “in the list of countries with the most business in 2016-2018, with Turkey fell to the lowest levels.”

Last year, Saudi tourists issued calls to boycott Turkey, which is a popular destination in the region, to spend the holiday, and there were also calls to stop buying real estate in Turkey.

The Saudi campaign targets the Turkish economy affected by the spread of the emerging “Corona” virus, at a time when the Turkish lira retreated to its lowest levels.

With the spread of the “Boycott Turkey” campaign on social media, many cartoons appeared that encourage the campaign as a national duty and warn against dealing with Turkish products.

“Stop buying any Turkish product .. Erdogan is fighting our country with our money,” said a message spread through WhatsApp among the Saudis.

Saudi Arabia is only 15th among the major markets for Turkish exports, and among the basic materials bought in Saudi Arabia from Turkey are textiles, chemicals, furnishings, carpets and iron.

Official figures indicate a decline Turkish exports To $ 1.9 billion in the first eight months this year, compared to $ 3.2 billion in 2019.

Observers pointed out the similarities between what is happening now and what happened when Saudi Arabia sought to show its financial strength by adopting punitive measures following diplomatic disputes with Canada, Germany and Qatar.

Robert Mogielnicki, a resident researcher at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, believes that “the bilateral Saudi-Turkish trade flows are not large enough for the success or failure of the economy of either country.”

Turkey will lose more in the short term from the turmoil in bilateral trade relations. However, Saudi Arabia should tread carefully to mitigate any negative impact on its reputation in the world with regard to its trade policy. ”