Amid Saudi-UAE rivalry, Turkey courts Riyadh without crossing Abu Dhabi
Turkey is moving closer to Saudi Arabia on key regional security files from Yemen to Gaza, while carefully avoiding a rupture with the United Arab Emirates.
ANKARA — As the Riyadh-Abu Dhabi rivalry intensifies in Yemen and beyond, Turkey is edging closer to Saudi Arabia on core regional priorities while trying to avoid jeopardizing its hard-won economic reset with the United Arab Emirates.
Against the backdrop of intra-Gulf tensions, Turkey's focus is twofold: deepening strategic alignment with Riyadh on security and regional crises, and preserving its economic gains with Abu Dhabi.
Yemen has emerged as the most recent flash point between the two Gulf powers, with clashes between Abu Dhabi-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) fighters and forces of the Yemeni government backed by Saudi Arabia. The Yemen confrontation came on top of ongoing rivalries between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi in other regions, from Sudan’s civil war to competing footprints in the Horn of Africa.
Ankara has so far opted for a deescalatory posture in Yemen, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan holding separate phone calls on Jan. 5 with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, conveying Turkey’s readiness to contribute to efforts aimed at bridging the parties' differences.
