After a Divorce, a Frosty Entente: Turkey's Rapprochement with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia

After the Arab uprisings, Turkey’s relations with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) broke down along sharp ideological lines. While Riyadh and Abu Dhabi sought to preserve the regional status quo by adopting a counter-revolutionary approach, Turkey emerged as an anti status quo, pro-revolutionary power supporting political islam.

During the period 2017-2021, the intense competition between Ankara and Riyadh/Abu Dhabi took the shape of a cold war that played out through a proxy confrontation on various fronts, particularly in Libya and Syria.
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE conceive the normalization of their relations as a transactional partnership that allows them to achieve separate short-term economic and political objectives without committing to any genuine long-term alliance. While Ankara and Riyadh are engaging in a pragmatic, realpolitik-driven rapprochement, overall relations will probably remain poor and marked by strategic competitiveness and a zero-sum mentality, especially at time of rising regional uncertainties and insecurities.
Available in:
Regions and themes
ISBN / ISSN
Share
Download the full analysis
This page contains only a summary of our work. If you would like to have access to all the information from our research on the subject, you can download the full version in PDF format.
After a Divorce, a Frosty Entente: Turkey's Rapprochement with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia
Related centers and programs
Discover our other research centers and programsFind out more
Discover all our analysesIndonesia and the Palestinian Cause
During his inaugural presidential speech on October 20, 2024, Indonesia’s incumbent president, Prabowo Subianto, iterated certain principles central to the philosophical foundation of the Indonesian nation. He noted Indonesia’s longstanding foreign policy of non-alignment or “bebas dan aktif” (free and active) and its aversion to military pacts.
Middle Power Lawfare : South Africa, International Justice, and the Gaza Crisis
The intensification of violence in Gaza following Hamas’s 7 October 2023 Al Aqsa Flood attack and Israel’s military response prompted a broader reassessment of global diplomacy. Longstanding geopolitical alignments were disrupted, and questions about humanitarian obligations, institutional accountability, and the limits of state conduct returned to the centre of international debate.
Adıyaman, the “Ownerless City”: Story of a Political Emancipation
Over the past two years, the city of Adıyaman has made headlines for two major reasons: first, its devastation by the earthquake of February 6, 2023, which struck between Turkey and Syria, and second, its significant political shift following the municipal elections of March 31, 2024.
The Evolving Role of Nuclear Rhetoric in Iran’s Strategic Calculus
How has the Iranian strategic discourse about nuclear weapons and deterrence evolved?