Erdogan seeks Gulf investment on tour to ease economic woes

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan landed in a Saudi Arabia on Monday in a Gulf tour that will also include the UAE and Qatar, seeking investment to boost Turkey’s struggling economy.

“This visit has two main topics: investments, and a financial dimension. We have high hopes for both,” Erdogan told a news conference at an Istanbul airport before flying to Saudi Arabia.

Erdogan is looking to non-Western partners for financial support as the country is facing budget problems, inflation, and a strained currency.

He expects Gulf countries to make direct investments of about $10 billion initially in domestic assets as a result of his trip to the region, Turkish officials told Reuters.

The Turkish economy has been under pressure since 2021, when Ankara launched a diplomatic effort to repair ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Turkey’s budget deficit surged to $8.37 billion in June, seven times the deficit a year earlier, with annual inflation close to 40 percent in June, while the lira has dropped by nearly 29 percent this year.

Erdogan appointed Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek after the elections, in part, to execute a U-turn after years of unorthodox economic policy that sent inflation soaring and net foreign reserves to a record low in May. The central bank also raised interest rates.

The visit is Erdogan’s second to Saudi Arabia since a rapprochement, as ties between the two countries were strained by the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate.