Turkey to increase trade with Doha amid boycott

CAIRO – 2 March 2018: Turkey has decided to increase its trade volume with Qatar to $5 billion annually, Ahmed Goulash, chairman of Entrepreneurs Union and Home Furnishing, told the press last week.

Goulash added that there might be potential for improvement in the current $1.3 billion trade between the two countries.

As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came into power in 2002, relations between the two countries started to revive.

“Relations only became stronger and grew deeper and stronger since the Arab Anti-Terrorism Quartet’s boycott against Qatar,” Goulash told The New Arab last week.

"Turkish businessmen are keen to familiarise themselves with the Qatari market and enter into new agreements and partnerships with Doha," Goulash said. “With the 2022 World Cup coming up, Turkish businessmen plan on working with Qatar as infrastructural developments take place in the run up of the international football competition,” he added.

He also urged that Ankara seeks to support its Gulf ally in the middle of the boycott.

On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar, accusing it of links to extremist groups.