Turkey in Bad Position

Calls to boycott Turkish goods are everywhere on social media, and not only by Saudi citizens, but Arabs from Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE joined the campaign and they all have emphasised that they do not want to support the economy of a country that kills Arabs and threatens to occupy Arab lands. They also spoke in solidarity with Armenia which is facing these days a brutal war by Turkey and Azerbaijan.

The hashtag “boycott Turkish products” has been leading the Saudi trend since Thursday and Twitter influencers have demanded local businesses to not import or sell Turkish-made products. Major Saudi stores and supermarkets announced that they will stop selling Turkish-made products.

Although Turkey only exports what is worth $2.64B to Saudi Arabia, any decline in the trade magnitude is a huge problem for any economy and will certainly force companies to lay-out thousands of workers. Beside other countries could follow the Saudi approach.

Mehmet Guzelmansur, an MP from Hatay province, warned that his county is already living difficult times because of the Covid-19 pandemic and such a major boycott will severely damage many local businesses. He added that bankruptcy will hit exporters, manufactures, packers and transporters, which means a huge increase in what he called “the army of unemployed workers in Turkey”.

It is also important to mention that thousands of Saudi tourists visit Turkey every year, and that number could decrease dramatically if the political tension remains between both countries, which will be another blow to the Turkish tourism sector which is already bleeding because of Covid-19 this year.

Moreover, Morocco, has amended a trade deal allowing it to raise duties by up to 90% on Turkish goods which dumped the Moroccan market for years and damaged local businesses. Other reports suggest that Algeria might follow Morocco and raise taxes on Turkish goods to prevent Turkey from taking advantages from previous trade agreements.

It is clear that Turkey is in a bad position between its neighbours as it is considered by many as an expansionist threat to the stability of the region. It has bad relations with Arab and European countries, and it only counts on Qatar’s money to stabilize its crumbling economy while its Muslim Brotherhood agents in the region keep igniting conflicts everywhere with the hope that they could control Libya or Syria and make the dictator happy.