As Ankara and Riyadh move to mend ties, the Turkish carpet makers are hoping a new era will help them lift their sales that all but dried over the last couple of years.
Saudi businesspeople have signaled an intention to rev up purchases of goods from Turkey in the coming period, paving the way for exports to the kingdom to rapidly return to normal.
Exports to one of the top Turkish carpet buyers came in at just $565,000 (TL 8.6 million) in 2021, according to data compiled from the Southeastern Anatolia Exporters Associations (GAIB).
They amounted to only $68,000 in the first four months of this year, out of the total carpet sales of $666 million, the data showed.
In contrast, sales to Saudi Arabia had totaled as much as $342.16 million in 2019, before falling to $263.98 million a year later.
The kingdom had been the industry’s second-biggest customer just after the U.S., said Mehmet Törer, the chair of Gaziantep Chamber of Carpet Makers.
The southeastern Gaziantep province indirectly accounts for 85% of Turkey’s foreign carpet sales.
Saudi Arabia’s imports from Turkey sank to a historic low last year after a monthslong informal boycott by the kingdom.
"Since we were not able to export directly to Saudi Arabia, this country has been replaced by Europe. As carpet makers, we export to almost 150 countries," Törer told Anadolu Agency (AA).
Ankara and Riyadh have in recent months attempted to repair some diplomatic damage after a decade of tension, especially after the 2018 murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul Consulate.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan late last month paid the first high-level visit to Saudi Arabia in years, after which he said the two countries have a common will to "reactivate a great economic potential."
Erdoğan said his visit is an example of a common will to start a new period with Riyadh and potentially the start of a new era in political, military, economic and cultural cooperation.
After the trip, Erdoğan said Ankara and Riyadh agreed on the need to bring together the business circles and investors of the two countries.
Törer said curbs were implemented against Turkish goods in Saudi Arabia over the recent two years, which hit trade.
Erdoğan’s visit, however, has injected optimism for the coming period, he noted.
"Our expectation is the old era. If our relations with Saudi Arabia improve, I expect Saudi Arabia to be our number one market. Our exports will increase by at least 25%," he noted.
"Turkish goods are valuable in Saudi Arabia. The people of Saudi Arabia used to prefer Turkish goods, and the goods of other countries were not in great demand. Some 95% of carpets imported to Saudi Arabia used to be exported from Gaziantep," Törer said.
"We believe that there will be a positive result in trade with Saudi Arabia. I hope that the customs issue will be resolved in a very short time, and we will continue our direct sales as before."