Turkey Courts Riyadh While 'Carefully Avoiding' Reality
The article notes Turkey is 'moving closer to Saudi Arabia on key regional security files from Yemen to Gaza,' while 'carefully avoiding a rupture with the United Arab Emirates.' This delicate balancing act, we're informed, occurs as Turkey seeks to repair strained ties with Riyadh after the Jamal Khashoggi assassination in 2018 (a hiccup that apparently can be overcome with enough transactional
diplomacy). What’s less discussed is the realpolitik underlying these 'rapprochement' efforts: the UAE and Saudi Arabia's own historically convenient amnesia regarding human rights when it suits their geopolitical and economic agendas, often quietly facilitated by Western allies. It's almost as if 'regional security' is code for 'whoever offers the best deals this fiscal quarter.' We saw this same
cynical waltz during the Yemen war, where both Saudi Arabia and the UAE (often with US backing) pursued their own bloody objectives, casually rebranding intervention as 'stability.' Turkey, a NATO member, now seeks entry into this exclusive club of 'principled' regional actors. One wonders how many more 'strategic realignments' will be needed before anyone bothers to realign with ethical
governance, or if that's just bad for business? (Spoiler: It usually is.)