The Saudi boycott increases economic pressure on Ankara |

Riyadh – Saudi stores have begun removing various Turkish products, from pickled grape leaves to coffee and cheeses, from their shelves after Saudi calls to boycott these products as the rivalry between Riyadh and Ankara intensified.

Saudi Arabia and Turkey have long vied for the leadership of the Islamic world, but their regional rivalry has intensified following the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 in his country’s consulate in Istanbul.

Turkish exporters of textiles and other goods recently complained of excessive delay at Saudi customs. Earlier this month, the head of the Saudi Chamber of Commerce called for “boycotting everything 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, Tamimi and Banda Markets, announced that they would stop importing and selling Turkish products.

Abdullah Al-Othaim Markets said in a statement on Twitter, that the decision came “in solidarity with the popular campaign to boycott,” stressing that “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 store in Riyadh, employees removed “made in Turkey” products from a large number of shelves, and filled carts with various products such as coffee, chocolates and boxes of pickled vegetables. Turkish cheeses were replaced by cheese made in Egypt.

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

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.

Despite the frequent calls to boycott the Turkish tourism products and destination in recent years, Saudi Arabia has not taken any economic or commercial punitive measures announced against Turkey in order not to violate its obligations and respect the agreements signed in this field, but in return it did not work to encourage commercial and tourism movement. With Turkey and removing any administrative obstacles that may arise in front of it, which cost the Turkish side, which benefits from exporting its products to the Kingdom and the influx of Saudi tourists, some financial losses.

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

In Ankara, the Turkish Contractors Union confirmed the existence of “various obstacles” to trade with Saudi Arabia, such as not inviting Turks to participate in solicitations for bids, difficulty obtaining visas for Turkish employees, and delay in payment.

The union estimates that “the negative impression about Turkey led to losses of three billion dollars in the Middle East for our traders last year.”

The federation added that Saudi Arabia, which was in second place “in the list of countries with the most business in 2016-2018 (with Turkey), has retreated to the lowest levels.”

Last year, Saudi tourists faced calls to boycott Turkey, a popular holiday destination in the region. There were also calls to stop buying real estate in Turkey.

It is not clear the direct reason for the recent launch of the Turkish goods boycott, but the two countries are fighting for influence in the Islamic world, and there are differences between Ankara and Riyadh on regional issues from Libya to Syria and even Israel.

In addition, Turkey is close to Qatar and has a military base in it, which Riyadh strongly criticizes due to Ankara’s involvement in regional conflicts and wars that threaten the security of the region, especially its intervention in Syria.

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

With the spread of the “Boycott Turkey” campaign on social media, a cartoon appeared in which an arm with the Saudi flag was pulled out by the ear of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom Riyadh accuses of interfering in its affairs.

“Stop buying any Turkish product … (Erdogan) fights our country with our money,” read a message spread on WhatsApp.

Karen Young of the American Enterprise Institute says this is “a kind of political showpiece.”

According to Young, this is “a tactic for Saudi domestic consumption, and a signal from the state to citizens to identify an external opponent.” Observers rule out that the Turkish government will submit to these pressures.

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

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

Saudis have warned that the boycott campaign could extend to the kingdom’s regional allies.

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 after diplomatic disputes with Canada, Germany and Qatar.

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

“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 regarding its trade policy. ”

The economic downturn and the effects that it will entail on the social conditions of the Turks in terms of a rise in poverty and unemployment rates mean that Erdogan and his party have been politically killed, since the relative economic boom that Turkey witnessed during the first years of the rule of justice and development represented a fundamental lever for the rise of “fake popularity” “Which was won and enabled him to defeat his opponents and rivals on more than one election occasion.