UAE Crown Prince to visit Turkey amid frayed relations

Frayed relations between United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Turkey are on a way to be rebuilt after years of rivalry, as Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, plans to visit Turkey for the first time in years.

There is no official statement yet, but known for his hostile attitude against Turkey, El Nahyan, colloquially known by his initials as MBZ, is expected to be in Turkey on November 24, and to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

This visit was discussed when UAE National Security Advisor Tahun bin Zaid Al Nahyan arrived in Ankara to meet with Presidential Security and Foreign Policy Advisor (and Spokesperson) İbrahim Kalın on August 18. Erdoğan also did received the advisor on that visit.

According to the information obtained from diplomatic sources, the agenda of the MBZ-Erdoğan meeting is loaded. In the dual plan, the UAE’s desire to export goods from Europe in a shorter way via Iran may be a point that will melt the ice. The shipments which use Mersin Port and Suez Canal take 19-20 days to reach Abu Dhabi, however via Gürbulak border gate (Bazargan on the Iranian side) , that delivery can take 3 – 4 days by land.

Last week, the UAE Crown Prince had a face-to-face meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, and had a telephone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir Abdullahiyan. Yesterday, Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Çavuşoğlu was in Iran in an official visit. And President Erdoğan is expected to visit Iran in following days state-run China Xinhua News reported on Nov. 16.

The possible agenda of the meeting is also expected to include Israel, Palestine and Libya issues in addition to Syria.

In 2013 Turkey had reacted the UAE for its support of the owerthrow of President Mohammed Morse, who was elected a member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

Turkey reacted to the UAE’s support for the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi, who was elected a member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in 2013. The UAE also participated in the embargo imposed by Saudi Arabia on Qatar in 2017, and Turkey supported Qatar by sending troops. Turkey supported the legitimate government in Libya, while the UAE, along with Russia and Egypt, supported the rebels. It is known that the leader of the crime organization Sedat Peker, who changed the agenda in Turkey with his statements, still lives in the UAE. After Ankara restricted the Muslim Brotherhood’s broadcasts from Turkey, Abu Dhabi also imposed restrictions on Peker’s YouTube broadcasts against Erdogan’s government.