Abu Dhabi’s crown prince discusses ties with Erdogan

SMA NEWS – ABU DHABI

Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks Monday, UAE state media reported, as relations improve between their two countries.

The phone call between the two leaders marks the highest-level interaction in years, after a rare visit earlier this month to Ankara by a United Arab Emirates delegation, headed by UAE national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Sheikh Tahnoun’s trip, which focused particularly on the possibility of pumping UAE investments into Turkey, was the highest-level public visit by an Emirati official to Turkey in years.

Sheikh Mohammed,  who is also the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Erdogan “reviewed the prospects of reinforcing relations between the two nations in a way that serves their common interests and their two peoples”, the official WAM news agency said.

“They exchanged views on a number of international and regional issues of interest.”

Erdogan has made efforts to reach out to a range of regional rivals, including Egypt, as he tries to break out of a growing diplomatic isolation that has cooled foreign investors in Turkey’s fragile economy.

Emirati officials have also made a series of visits to rival countries, including Qatar, after ties between the two Gulf nations were severed for more than three years.

The two countries have seen their ties affected by regional tensions, including the conflict in Libya, where the UAE and Turkey have backed opposing sides in recent years.

Turkey and the Gulf states and Egypt have also clashed over Turkey’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood, which the Arab regimes see as a threat.