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

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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.

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President Erdogan and Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi, Febuary 14th, 2022
President Erdogan and Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi, Febuary 14th, 2022
Presidency of the Republic of Turkey
Corps analyses

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.

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ISBN / ISSN

979-10-373-0534-3

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

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Süleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul, Türkiye
Turkey/Middle East Program
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Ifri's Turkey/Middle East Program aims to provide expertise on the trends and developments in politics, societies and economies across the region.

The programme has the following objectives:

  • Proposing a new approach towards the MENA region through an analysis of local, regional, and international dynamics with the potential to guide and influence new policies.
  • Highlighting the role of foreign powers which have traditionally been present in the region and analyzing the new role taken on by emerging countries ;
  • Anticipating new directions and outlooks in each country.
  • Interpreting risks and potentials and putting forward new templates for analysis.

The programme has built a dense network of researchers and experts who provide expertise on the MENA region and working together on a range of crosscutting themes.

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President Erdogan and Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi, Febuary 14th, 2022
Presidency of the Republic of Turkey

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