Turkey focuses on Gulf for two-way ties

A Turk cannot live without an Arab,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish prime minister, proclaimed this month at a regional summit, where ministers unveiled ambitions for a Middle East customs union stretching from the Black Sea to Morocco.

No one expects that vision to be realised overnight in spite of early steps to lower trade barriers with Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. But as Ankara’s stock rises in the Arab world, it is also seeking immediate economic benefits, in the form of Gulf capital.

Mehmet Simsek, finance minister, told the Financial Times of “concerted efforts” to boost ties with Gulf countries in particular, with the Arab world accounting for a growing share of foreign direct investment in Turkey.