Saudi Arabia promotes boycott of Turkish products

Diplomatic tensions between Ankara and Riyadh have increased in recent years, particularly as both countries are involved in several regional conflicts, such as Libya and Qatar, and defend opposing interests. 

Saudi Arabia and Turkey have been at odds for some years over foreign policy and attitudes towards Islamist political groups. The murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi’s Istanbul consulate in 2018 escalated tensions sharply. 

This year the two countries blocked some of each other’s news websites.

In early October, Ajlan al-Ajlan, chairman of the board of directors of the Saudi Chamber of Commerce in Riyadh, launched a campaign via Twitter “A boycott of everything Turkish, be it imports, investment or tourism “in response to the "hostility of the Turkish government" against Riyadh. 

The Saudi Chambers of Commerce is a non-government group of private sector business officials.

Turkey's eight biggest business groups have recently denounced that Riyadh is putting pressure on "Saudi companies to sign documents not to import from Turkey".

In response to a query from Reuters, Saudi Arabia’s government media office said the Gulf Arab state was committed to international trade and investment pacts and free trade. “The official authorities in the Kingdom have not placed any restrictions on Turkish goods,” it said.

 In addition, this Saudi boycott of products manufactured in Turkey affects several foreign companies, including Spain's Mango and Inditex, both members of the Istanbul Clothing Exporters Association (IHKIB), which have factories in Turkey from which garments are exported to dozens of countries. 

 Turkish exports to Saudi Arabia have fallen by 16% so far this year, according to data from the Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TIM), with a fall in trade volume of 18% (400 million euros), in the first eight months of the year, compared with the same period in 2019. This issue has gone beyond bilateral economic relations and has become a "problem for global supply chains", according to the joint statement by Turkish businessmen. 

 In the second quarter, Turkey was Saudi Arabia's twelfth largest trading partner by total import value. The latest data show that Saudi imports from Turkey were worth around $185 million in July, compared to around $180 million in June. 

A Saudi importer told Reuters on condition of anonymity that containers he imported this year from Turkey lay with customs for three months before being released. He said customs officials informally advised him not to import directly from Turkey again.

Turkish opposition lawmaker Mehmet Güzelmansur said goods, particularly perishable fruit and vegetables, exported from his region of Hatay were held at the Saudi border for longer than necessary.

 Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan took a swipe at the Gulf states in a speech to parliament: “It should not be forgotten that the countries in question did not exist yesterday, and probably will not exist tomorrow,” Erdogan said. “But we will continue to fly our flag in this geography forever, with the permission of Allah,” he said.