Saudi Arabia is not only a friend of Turkey's but the country is also the guardian of the most holy places of Islam. So any problem in Saudi Arabia means the two most sacred places in Islam, Mecca and Medina, are in jeopardy. Mecca houses the Kaaba built by Prophet Abraham and the holy shrine that all Muslims around the world turn to five times a day to pray to God while Medina houses the mosque where the Prophet Muhammed rests in peace.
If Saudi Arabia is destabilized one way or the other, the holy places of Islam are jeopardized. If Saudi Arabia suffers an external attack, again these places will be in jeopardy. So it is in the interest of not only Turkey and the Turks but all Muslims that stability is preserved in Saudi Arabia and that the country is protected against malice.
But this is easier said than done. Especially when we get the impression that our Saudi friends are shooting themselves in the foot.
The Arab offensive led by the Saudis against Qatar with extensive encouragement from U.S. President Donald Trump seems to be ill-conceived and lacks any real substance. Claiming Qatar is the leading financier of terrorist activities around the world, claiming Qatar is a part of the Persian alliance in the region may sound nice to someone but when you dig into the realities you start to see that all the charges brought against the Qatar regime do not hold water.
King Salman of Saudi Arabia should be more concerned about the way his Kingdom is being run and the claims of serious state mismanagement that is hurting and angering the people on the street in his country.
Today the financial assets of Saudi Arabia are shrinking at an alarming rate and it is no secret that the Kingdom is facing budgetary problems. It cannot dish out money to its people to keep them happy as it did in the old days. So it is only normal that people are questioning the merits of buying American arms at the tune of $105 billion when the economy is on the rocks.
Saudi Arabia is bogged down in an endless conflict in Yemen that has become an embarrassment for the Kingdom. People in the Kingdom are questioning the Yemen conflict, the financial losses and how the Saudi army has blundered.
Besides all this, Saudi Arabia is involved in a potentially dangerous political war against Iran to stop Persian expansionism. The fact that Iran is trying to stir up trouble in the northwestern oilfields of Saudi Arabia, where a sizeable Shiite Arab majority live, is adding to Saudi worries.
All these are serious potential dangers facing a country whose unity depends on tribal loyalties and attachments. The dangers facing Saudi Arabia are real and serious. This is no comfort to the millions of Muslims around the world who face the Kaaba five times a day to pray or to the friends of Saudi Arabia in the region.
Qatar is no threat to anyone in its region. On the contrary, it is a balancing factor in the region, which is why the Americans have established a massive military base there to launch their Middle Eastern operations. So Saudi Arabia should not fall into the trap of the financially struggling United Arab Emirates or the military-run Egypt and put an end to the current nonsense. It would be well-advised to concentrate on all its current problems that have the potential to destabilize the country. Besides all this they should not be fooled by Trump's support when there is such a massive anti-Saudi lobby in Washington trying to topple the U.S. administration.