Saudi Arabia has been working at taking Turkey out for a good while now.Flashback--- October 10/2018: Khashoggi's "Disappearance": A New Twist In Bitter Gulf Divisions Or October 7/2018 Missing "journalist" Jamal Khashoggi? Or Arms Trader Like Namesake Adnan Khashoggi?
- Or if someone kidnapped him while on Turkish territory, though in the Saudi consulate, it might lead one to suspect that acrimony is being further fuelled between the Turks and the Saudis? (Harkening back to the assassination of the Russian Ambassador on Turkish soil. That incident appeared to be an attempt to place a wedge between Turkey and Russia)
*Think about all the jihadis Saudi Arabia sent into Syria...... starting right away in 2011. That news is easily recalled or found here. Turkey responded and everyone used Syria as a home away from home to wage their proxy wars. * The Saudi mercenaries helped create the refugee issue that Turkey is dealing with all these years later.* Saudi Arabia has also been funding and aiding the PKK in Syria's north. That's been reported more then a few times at the blog. ( Including in the relinked material above) This support has been given with the intent to kill two birds with one stone. Well actually three. No, make that 4! 1- Saudi Arabia has assisted the coalition in the destruction of Syria. 2- The destabilization of Turkey. 3- All the while eyeing Iran. 4- Making Israel very pleased.
- S-400's set to arrive in Turkey. US Set to Trigger Sanctions. Turkey’s Central Banker Fired"Mohammad al-Akam, a senior Syrian legislator, said that a tripartite coalition has been formed among Saudi Arabia, the Kurdish forces and Israel under the US supervision which pursues pressures on Damascus after gaining victory over terrorist groups, by separating the Northeastern parts of the country.Sejari underlined that Saudi Arabia wants to pressure Turkey, warning, "All of us will be harmed by this measure."Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has drawn up a plan to target Erdogan's government following Khashoggi's murderMEE "Saudi Arabia has begun implementing a “strategic plan” to confront the Turkish government, after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman decided he was being “too patient” with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the wake of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. The plan is detailed in a confidential report based on open- and closed-source intelligence prepared by the kingdom’s ally, the United Arab Emirates. The intelligence report is one of a monthly series written by the Emirates Policy Centre, a think tank with close links to the Emirati government and security services. Entitled “Monthly Report on Saudi Arabia, Issue 24, May 2019”, the report is of limited circulation and intended for the top Emirati leadership. It does not appear on the think tank’s website. A copy has been obtained by Middle East Eye.It reveals that in Riyadh in May, orders were given to implement the strategic plan to confront the Turkish government. The aim of the plan was to use “all possible tools to pressure Erdogan’s government, weaken him, and keep him busy with domestic issues in the hope that he will be brought down by the opposition, or occupy him with confronting crisis after crisis, and push him to slip up and make mistakes which the media would surely pick up on”. Middle East Eye contacted the Emirates Policy Centre for comment, with no reply by the time of publication.
Restricting influence
Riyadh’s aim is to restrict Erdogan and Turkey’s regional influence. “The kingdom would start to target the Turkish economy and press towards the gradual termination of Saudi investment in Turkey, the gradual decrease of Saudi tourists visiting Turkey while creating alternative destinations for them, decreasing Saudi import of Turkish goods, and most importantly minimising Turkish regional role in Islamic matters,” the report says."
'Erdogan went too far in his campaign smearing the kingdom, especially the person of the crown prince'- Emirates Policy Centre report
Peter O Toole/Lawrence of Arabia"According to the report, Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, took the decision to confront Turkey following the assassination of Khashoggi by a team of Saudi agents in their country’s Istanbul consulate. The murder of the Saudi journalist, a Middle East Eye and Washington Post columnist, created international outrage, in large part due to Turkey’s insistence on Riyadh providing accountability and transparency over the affair. “President Erdogan … went too far in his campaign smearing the kingdom, especially the person of the crown prince, using in the most reprehensible manner the case of Khashoggi,” the reports says In the document, the Emirates Policy Centre claims Turkey did not provide “specific and honest” information to assist the Saudi investigation into the killing, but instead leaked “disinformation” to the media “all aimed at distorting the image of the kingdom and attempting to destroy the reputation of the crown prince”.
The pressure begins
"Last week came the first public sign of the campaign detailed in the Emirati document coming to life. Saudi authorities blocked 80 Turkish trucks transporting textile products and chemicals from entering the kingdom through its Duba port. Three hundred containers carrying fruit and vegetables from Turkey had also been held in Jeddah’s port, according to a Turkish official who spoke to MEE on condition of anonymity. The number of Saudi tourists visiting Turkey decreased 15 percent (from 276,000 to 234,000) in the first six months of 2019, according to official data released by the Turkish tourism ministry.Saudi Arabia has approximately $2bn worth of direct investment in Turkey, according to the Turkish foreign ministry data from 2018. That year, Turkish exports to Saudi Arabia were valued at around $2.64bn, while imports from the kingdom stood at $2.32bn. Behind the scenes, other signals have been sent to Ankara. The Emirati report says “in a sign that the Saudi leadership has severed its relationship with … Erdogan and started treating him as an enemy”, King Salman approved “without hesitation” a recommendation from an advisory committee not to send an official invitation to attend a high-profile Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit in Mecca.The Turkish president’s name was added to the list of those excluded from the summit, alongside Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.Eventually, King Salman decided to allow the Qatari emir to attend the event in Mecca, though Erdogan’s invitation was not forthcoming"
From earlier:
S-400 in Turkey- An Umbrella in Rainy Weather
Sunday:
Don't Be Surprised When the Jeffrey Epstein Smoke Clears
