People walk past a screen showing rates at a currency exchange agency near Grand bazaar, in Istanbul, on September 24, 2020. (Photo by AFP)
The head of Saudi Arabias Chambers of Commerce has called for a boycott of Turkish products amid reports of partial, informal embargo imposed by Riyadh.
"A boycott of everything Turkish, be it imports, investment or tourism, is the responsibility of every Saudi ‘trader and consumer, in response to the continued hostility of the Turkish government against our leadership, country and citizens," businessman Ajlan al-Ajlan said in a tweet.
The Chambers of Commerce is a non-government group of private sector business officials.
Saudi Arabias government media office said the kingdom 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 told Reuters.
For more than a year, some Saudi and Turkish traders have speculated that Riyadh was enforcing an informal boycott on Turkish imports.
A Saudi importer, who asked not to be named, told Reuters that containers he imported this year from Turkey were held at customs for three months before being released. He added that customs officials informally advised him not to import directly from Turkey again.
Last week, Turkish opposition lawmaker Mehmet Guzelmansur said on Twitter that goods, especially perishable fruit and vegetables, exported from his region of Hatay were held at the Saudi border for longer than necessary on arrival.
He expressed concern that what he described as the partial, informal embargo by Saudi Arabia would be widened.
In a speech to parliament on Thursday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said some of the Persian Gulf Arab states "target us because we express the truth and stand by the oppressed and the equity".
"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."
Over the past few years, relations between Turkey and some of the Persian Gulf States such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been particularly strained over foreign policy.
Tensions between Ankara and Riyadh escalated after the murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.
The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was the first to report Khashoggis murder and has since continued to press Riyadh for information on the whereabouts of his dismembered body, which remains missing.
The CIA has concluded in its assessment that the murder was ordered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/20702
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