Description: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with UAE’s President, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al – Nahyan in Ankara as they signed several memorandums of understanding, strengthening bilateral cooperation between their respective countries in several sectors. Erdogan and Al – Nahyan reiterated on their previous meeting when Erdogan visited UAE’s leader in Abu – Dhabi as they signed memorandums affecting sectors such as tourism, financial investment, energy, technology and defense. Erdogan stated that trade relations have significantly improved in recent years as both countries targeted revenues surpassing the $20 billion goal aiming at reaching trade exchanges of $40 billion in the long – term. The Turkish President also stated that he discussed the ongoing regional crisis in Gaza and the present situation with sectarian violence in Syria with UAE’s President.
Impact: Turkey has continued cultivating stable and strong regional partnerships reasserting itself as a dominant player in the Middle East and a power broker between the west and the east. Enhancement of cooperation between the two countries in sectors such as energy, tourism, financial investment and defense would solidify their complex but dynamic partnership which would mostly benefit Turkey. The UAE would aim at expanding its regional influence through partnering with one of the most rapidly emerging geopolitical players in the region in Turkey, while pursuing its own geopolitical prospects. The partnership practically establishes a unified front against Israel’s war in Gaza and comes at a crucial time of the ceasefire negotiations which would most certainly be impacted by Turkey’s and UAE’s input and diplomatic positioning.