Impact of the Qatar Crisis on Turkey’s Economic Relations with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE

No 128, Working Papers from Brandeis University, Department of Economics and International Business School

Abstract: In June 2017 Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirate launched a transport and economic blockade against Qatar to punish her for supporting hostile Islamic groups and maintaining good relations with Iran. Turkey, which had good economic relations with both Saudi Arabia and the UAE opposed the blockade and expressed full support for Qatar. In this article I look at how the economic relations of Turkey with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have evolved ever since. Looking at trade, investment and tourism data it is clear that there has been a sharp increase in bilateral economic relations between Turkey and Qatar. The Qatar crisis has had a negative impact on economic relations of Turkey with Saudi Arabia and the UAE but the there are some differences in the magnitude of decline in specific activities. The setback in bilateral trade has been more severe in Turkey-UAE relations, while the decline in investment ties has been more significant in Turkey-Saudi linkage. In the travel and tourism sector, which is more driven by consumer preferences than government directives, Turkey has remained a popular destination for UAE and Saudi tourists despite the diplomatic tensions. In 2019 Saudi government has launched a campaign to discourage its citizens from travel and investment in Turkey.

Keywords: Economic Development; Qatar; Economic Sanctions; GCC; Turkey; Saudi Arabia; The UAE; Blockade; Bilateral Trade; Tourism; The Middle East. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F14 F51 N45 N75 O53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 15 pages
Date: 2019-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ara and nep-tur
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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