Erdogan’s charmingly pragmatic offensive
February 21, 2022, 1:31 pm

Erdogan’s charmingly pragmatic offensive

Ian Black

Rarely has a leader’s trip abroad attracted so much attention as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s state visit to the UAE last week. The Turkish leader’s journey to Abu Dhabi and Dubai was a landmark event which is likely have a profound influence on relations between Ankara and Middle Eastern capitals.

It wasn’t that surprising after the UAE’s de facto leader Mohammed bin Zayid Al-Nahyan visited Turkey last November, the first high-level trip since 2012. But given the symbolic importance of reciprocity in diplomacy at all levels Erdogan’s visit was a highly significant development in calming regional tensions.

Turkey and the UAE have been at loggerheads for the past decade. Radically different attitudes to the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011; support of opponents in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia; the boycott of Qatar; and Turkey’s backing of Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups and its opposition to gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean are just some of the areas of disagreement.

Dubai’s iconic Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, was illuminated with the colours of the Turkish flag and the words “Hos Geldiniz,” Turkish for “welcome.”

The former Emirati foreign minister and presidential adviser Anwar Gargash tweeted, “Erdogan’s visit to the UAE … opens a new positive page in the bilateral relations between the two countries.” But by contrast, in a 2020 interview, Gargash called for Europe to join forces against what he said was Erdogan’s attempt “to revive the Ottoman Empire.”

In the past Ankara was unhappy with the overthrow of Muhammad Morsi by General Abdel-Fatah al-Sissi in 2013 and set out to support Sunni Islamist groups to counter Iranian backing for Shias in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen.

And Turkey accused the UAE of providing financial support to some of the organizers of a failed 2016 military coup against Erdogan’s government. The two countries, in short, have long seen each other as hostile, with Turkey cast as a dangerous bully and the UAE as an arrogant upstart.

So what has changed?

Geopolitics and economic interests is the short answer. The perceived withdrawal from the Middle East by the Biden administration, the Abraham Accords signed by the UAE with Israel, and the increasing vulnerability of Abu Dhabi in the face of recent attacks by the Houthi rebels are all factors.

Following MBZ’s visit last November, the UAE announced a $10 billion fund for investments in Turkey, where the economy has been reeling and inflation last month surged to a near 20-year high. Turkey is in crisis and its national currency having lost 48% of its value in the last year. And Erdogan is facing an election in June 2023.

For its part, the UAE has been pushing to further diversify its economy away from oil and revive itself from the damage of the Covid pandemic. “It made us understand… that we had to turn back home and let go of certain kinds of engagements in the broader Middle East,” an Emirati diplomat said last autumn.

In Abu Dhabi Erdogan and MBZ signed 13 cooperation agreements and memoranda of understanding, including a letter of intent on cooperation in the defence industries. The UAE has vowed to double or even triple trade volumes with Turkey in the near future, seeing Ankara as a key conduit to new markets especially in Africa.

Erdogan has since last year sought to improve ties with regional powers in the face of increasing diplomatic isolation that has caused foreign investment to dry up, particularly from the US and EU. Last month, he said he would also visit Saudi Arabia, the first trip to Riyadh since relations soured over the 2018 murder of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi inside the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.

Turkey is also seeking to mend ties with Israel, now officially a friend of the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco since the Abraham Accords in August 2020. Israeli President Isaac Herzog is scheduled for an official visit to Turkey in March, despite the fact that Turkey in 2020 threatened to cut ties with the UAE over its normalization deal with Israel. Ankara’s backing for Hamas in Gaza is likely to lessen under Israeli, Emirati and US pressure.

This détente comes amid heightened tensions in the region as Iran’s nuclear development progresses, and in the wake of a series of drone and missile attacks on the UAE mostly claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who are backed by Tehran.

Relations between Turkey and Iran have also worsened. Turkey maintains close military and trade ties with Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, to Tehran’s annoyance. In Syria, Iran and Turkey are on opposite sides of the fence. Ankara still wants to topple Bashar al-Assad, while Iran sees him as a strategic asset to preserve its influence in Lebanon.

The overall lesson from Turkish-UAE reconciliation is this: it makes sense for all countries that are used to tense regional relations to take a break from confrontation, using diplomacy and economic power as a means of securing their own interests and projecting their influence. The Erdogan-MBZ meeting is likely to be considered, in future at least, as the end of the period known as the Arab Spring.

BY: IAN BLACK

Australia to welcome tourists after nearly two years of sealing borders Damascus bookstores long for customers as economic crisis bites purchasing power

BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the company’s headquarters in the Seef District.
During the meeting, shareholders approved all items listed on the agenda, including the ratification of the minutes of the previous AGM held on 26 March 2024. The session reviewed and approved the Board’s Annual Report on the company’s activities and financial performance for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2024, and the shareholders expressed their satisfaction with the company’s operational and financial results during the reporting period.
The meeting also reviewed the Independent External Auditor’s Report on the company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. Subsequently, the shareholders approved the audited financial statements for the fiscal year. Based on the Board’s recommendation, the shareholders approved the distribution of a cash dividend equivalent to 10% of the paid-up share capital.
Furthermore, the shareholders endorsed the allocation of a total amount of BD 172,500 as remuneration to the members of the Board for the year ended 31 December 2024, subject to prior clearance by related authorities.
The extension of the current composition of the Board was approved, which includes ten members and one CBB observer, for a further six-month term, expiring in September 2025, pending no objection from the CBB.
The meeting reviewed and approved the Corporate Governance Report for 2024, which affirmed the company’s full compliance with the corporate governance directives issued by the CBB and other applicable regulatory frameworks. The AGM absolved the Board Members of liability for any of their actions during the year ending on 31st December 2024, in accordance with the Commercial Companies Law.
In alignment with regulatory requirements, the session approved the reappointment of Ernst & Young (EY) as the company’s External Auditors for the fiscal year 2025, covering both the parent company and its subsidiaries—Sinnad and Bahrain FinTech Bay. The Board was authorised to determine the external auditors’ professional fees, subject to approval from the CBB, and the meeting concluded with a discussion of any additional issues as per Article (207) of the Commercial Companies Law.
Speaking on the company’s performance, Mr. Mohamed Al Bastaki, Chairman BENEFIT , stated: “In terms of the financial results for 2024, I am pleased to say that the year gone by has also been proved to be a success in delivering tangible results. Growth rate for 2024 was 19 per cent. Revenue for the year was BD 17 M (US$ 45.3 Million) and net profit was 2 Million ($ 5.3 Million).

Mr. Al Bastaki also announced that the Board had formally adopted a new three-year strategic roadmap to commence in 2025. The strategy encompasses a phased international expansion, optimisation of internal operations, enhanced revenue diversification, long-term sustainability initiatives, and the advancement of innovation and digital transformation initiatives across all service lines.
“I extend my sincere appreciation to the CBB for its continued support of BENEFIT and its pivotal role in fostering a stable and progressive regulatory environment for the Kingdom’s banking and financial sector—an environment that has significantly reinforced Bahrain’s standing as a leading financial hub in the region,” said Mr. Al Bastaki. “I would also like to thank our partner banks and valued customers for their trust, and our shareholders for their ongoing encouragement. The achievements of 2024 set a strong precedent, and I am confident they will serve as a foundation for yet another successful and impactful year ahead.”
Chief Executive of BENEFIT; Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi commented, “The year 2024 represented another pivotal chapter in BENEFIT ’s evolution. We achieved substantial progress in advancing our digital strategy across multiple sectors, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to the development of Bahrain’s financial services and payments landscape. Throughout the year, we remained firmly aligned with our objective of delivering measurable value to our shareholders, strategic partners, and customers. At the same time, we continued to play an active role in enabling Bahrain’s digital economy by introducing innovative solutions and service enhancements that directly address market needs and future opportunities.”
Mr. AlJanahi affirmed that BENEFIT has successfully developed a robust and well-integrated payment network that connects individuals and businesses across Bahrain, accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies in the banking and financial services sector and reinforcing Bahrain’s position as a growing fintech hub, and added, “Our achievements of the past year reflect a long-term vision to establish a resilient electronic payment infrastructure that supports the Kingdom’s digital economy. Key developments in 2024 included the implementation of central authentication for open banking via BENEFIT Pay”
Mr. AlJanahi concluded by thanking the Board for its strategic direction, the company’s staff for their continued dedication, and the Central Bank of Bahrain, member banks, and shareholders for their valuable partnership and confidence in the company’s long-term vision.