The President's Gulf visit

Our President's Gulf visit, covering Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, began only one day after the announcement of 16 April as the date on which the constitutional amendment would go to a popular vote. Naturally, the atmosphere of the referendum process made its effect felt considerably during these visits. But of course the real agenda of these visits was the search for a policy and a path that would build confidence in the face of the developments through which the region is passing and which threaten stability. The problems experienced in the region can only be overcome through the mutual understanding and search for consensus of all the countries of the region. This is very clear.

When the countries of the region remain idle in producing solutions to their problems among themselves, many are those who meddle. And those who meddle from the outside do nothing other than complicate matters further. Traffic within the region itself is intensifying, and therefore there is limitless benefit.

Up to now, most of the problems have stemmed from the sparseness of relations. A style of international politics may find the way to be at peace in being cut off from one another. The idea that the fewer the relations, the fewer the problems, was seen in the past as the most ideal application of the principle of "peace in the world." Yet our world compels people, countries and peoples to be in relation with one another. That is why international politics and diplomacy too can find their ideal application in facilitating this relation and opening the way for these relations.

The Gulf countries are on a good path in forming a union among themselves and consolidating this union further with each passing day. However, it is unfortunately not possible to say that this union reads and evaluates sufficiently well the elements that threaten it, or that it can develop a good policy against them. Had a good policy been produced, the crisis in Syria would not have come this far nor deepened with each passing day. The support for the coup in Egypt was probably based on regarding the Ikhwan, who came by the democratic path and had no tendency toward armed violence, as a threat, but the vacuum that formed and continues to form with the sidelining of the Ikhwan is filling with armed violence movements, the expansionist policy of Persian nationalism, and regional instabilities, which threaten the Gulf countries far more effectively.

To get out of these impasses a broad-based, sincere search for politics is needed. For this, it is essential to develop dialogue, diplomacy, mutual visits and a ground of common cooperation. Although Turkey has clearly differed from the Gulf countries on both Egypt and Syria, it has not broken away from them, and has not refrained from insisting on the idea that it is their partner in destiny. Everything that threatens the Gulf threatens Turkey too. Every development that threatens Turkey threatens the Gulf too. We can clearly see that this reality is today accepted with this clarity by the Gulf countries as well.

During our President's visit to Bahrain, a memorandum of understanding on the mutual abolition of visas was signed, and a similar memorandum had previously been signed with Qatar and Kuwait as well. This makes a very important contribution to the commercial exchange between the Gulf countries and Turkey. The Emir of Bahrain, who was in Turkey after 15 July on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the Yavuz Selim Bridge and also to give a message of solidarity with Turkey, was inspired by it and voiced the idea of a bridge between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia being built by Turkish contractors.

Between Saudi Arabia and Turkey, before the visit, the meeting of the High Coordination Council, previously established in Ankara, had already been held. This council, which had been decided on during the King's previous visit to Turkey (April 2016), had started its work since that day and on 8 February held its latest meeting with the participation of the Foreign Ministers. The preliminary preparations for the visit to Saudi Arabia were well made, and it made itself felt that the visit took place at a level of relations improving with each passing day at every level. King Salman Bin Abdulaziz's coming to the airport to greet our President was a very clear indication of the value he gave to the visit and to Erdoğan's person. All the signs of this value were there at every stage of the visit and, of course, in the results of the talks.

Let us also say this: in raising relations with all the Gulf countries in general, and with Saudi Arabia in particular, to high levels, there is a very intense interest, demand and desire not only between the countries but between the peoples. Even if these relations did not exist between states, integration between peoples is almost complete. At present there are very few Kuwaitis or Qataris who do not have a residence in Turkey or who do not come to Turkey every year. Today there are daily direct flights to Trabzon from at least 7-8 cities of Saudi Arabia, because Trabzon has become a second home for a significant portion of Saudis. We accepted an invitation to a diwaniya of Riyadh businessmen who have investments in Turkey. At the diwaniya of an important Riyadh family, which we attended together with AK Parti Deputy Chairmen Abdülhamit Gül and Vedat Demiröz and our Group Deputy Chairman Mehmet Muş, there were more than fifty Saudi businessmen. Although the diwaniya had been decided on at the last moment, this many people had gathered within a few hours. All of them had real estate in Turkey, some had factories in textiles and other sectors. All of them had, beyond interest, a love for Turkey, especially for Erdoğan; we felt this in their every word and every movement. They told us that they felt 15 July as a coup made against themselves, and, since they also described the recent movement in the dollar exchange rate as a coup, they told us how they responded to the President's call to convert dollars.

The details of the talks at the diwaniya were published the next day in the al-Hayat newspaper as well. We listened to their demands and problems. Especially since Saudi Arabia does not allow dual citizenship, they have demands for permanent residency and longer-term visas, because this is the trouble they suffer from most at present. They also asked that the threshold for investment or housing purchases, for citizenship or the Turquoise card, be lowered from 1 million dollars to 300 thousand dollars. They promised that when this is done, the Saudi investment already coming to Turkey will multiply. We took note, we conveyed it, and we received the first positive signals for its resolution. There could have been a continuation of what we would tell, but alas, this lack of space...