Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday to attend an ambassadors meeting, a statement by the ministry said Sunday.
Çavuşoğlu will address the 16th UAE Ambassadors and Representatives of Diplomatic Missions Forum as a guest of honor upon the invitation of his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
He is also expected to meet his Emirate counterpart and discuss bilateral relations and regional developments, the ministry added.
In November, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ), as Turkey and the UAE seek to repair their relations and increase economic cooperation. The visit by the crown prince, seen as the de facto leader and the force behind the UAE’s foreign policy posture, was his first official trip to Turkey since 2012 and the highest-level visit by an Emirati official since relations hit a low as the countries have battled for regional influence and backed opposing sides in conflicts.
Erdoğan paid a return visit to the UAE in February, signing cooperation agreements in various fields, saying that increased cooperation between the two countries would benefit the region.
Turkey and the UAE have seen their ties affected by regional tensions, including the conflict in Libya, where they have backed opposing sides in recent years.
Turkey had previously accused the UAE of bringing chaos to the Middle East through its interventions in Libya and Yemen, while the UAE and several other countries criticized Turkey’s military actions. Relations hit an all-time low when Erdoğan said that Ankara could suspend diplomatic ties with the Abu Dhabi administration after the UAE-Israel deal.
Turkey also sided with Qatar in a Gulf dispute, at odds with the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, while Turkish support helped Libya’s United Nations-backed government in Tripoli drive back UAE-supported forces attempting to seize the capital. However, 2021 saw Turkey seeking warmer ties with several regional countries and longtime foes after many tumultuous years.
Converging interests have driven regional power shifts in the Middle East, mainly led by regional powerhouses Turkey and the UAE. The diplomatic maneuvering signals a growing realization across the region that the United States’ interest is moving elsewhere and that now is the time for negotiations that were unthinkable just a year ago.