Commerce head: Saudis should boycott everything Turkish
The leader of Saudi Arabia’s Chamber of Commerce appealed on Saturday for a boycott of everything Turkish including imports, investment, and tourism, and he said that it is the responsibility of every Saudi.
This call for a boycott comes after that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that certain countries in the Arabian Gulf were targeting Turkey and following policies that disrupted the region.
Erdogan reported on Thursday, addressing Turkey’s General Assembly: It should not be forgotten that the countries in question did not exist yesterday, and probably will not exist tomorrow; however, we will continue to keep our flag flying in this region forever, with the permission of Allah.
In fact, the words of Erdogan generated a severe reaction; while Saudi Arabia’s Chamber of Commerce head Ajlan Al-Ajlan appealed for a boycott of Turkish goods, He said in a post on Twitter: Boycotting everything Turkish, whether on the level of import, investment or tourism, is the responsibility of every Saudi – trader and consumer- in response to the continued hostility of the Turkish government against our leadership, our country, and our citizens. Actually, if this will happen, it would affect thousands of Turkish exporters at a time that the Turkish economy is in deterioration.
Turkish economy
It should be noted that the Turkish lira has increased to a record low on Monday at over 7.7 versus the US dollar. It is one of the world’s worst-performing currencies this year, increased 22 percent, according to Reuters.
Furthermore, the impact of the coronavirus with a currency crisis that initiated in 2018 has led to a loud recession, with gross foreign exchange reserves at the central bank falling by nearly half this year. According to former Turkish parliament member Aykan Erdemir, Western capital is also fleeing the Turkish markets.
Erdemir, now senior director of the Turkey program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, informed Al Arabiya English that Turkey suffers from a chronic current account deficit and the ongoing Western exodus from Turkish bonds and equities exacerbates the problem.
Who’s to blame?
Indeed, Turkey’s President Erdogan blamed foreign actors for the state of the economy, alleging in May that foreign plots try to undermine the country’s commerce. Adversaries point to the policies of finance minister, Berat Albayrak, aged 41, who is Erdogan’s son-in-law.
Former Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, declared during a speech last month that Albayrak destroyed Turkey’s economy, and that nepotism was the only reason for Albayrak’s appointment. According to Turkish news outlet Duvar, Davutoglu reported that someone needs to be held accountable for the lira’s loss of value.
There is also another argument made by the critics of Erdogan is that the Turkish government is paying more attention to winning on the foreign battlefield than fixing the economic crisis, and using the country’s resources to fight battles in Syria, Libya, and now Azerbaijan.
