Popular campaigns are fruitful ... Saudi markets are starting to remove Turkish products

After the President of the Saudi Chamber of Commerce, Ajlan al-Ajlan, called in October to boycott Turkish goods in response to "the continued hostility of the Turkish government against the leadership of the Kingdom and its citizens," a group of major stores in Saudi Arabia, including Abdullah Al-Othaim, Tamimi and Banda markets, announced that they would stop Importing and selling Turkish products.

Abdullah al-Othaim Markets said in a statement on Twitter that the decision came in solidarity with the popular campaign for the boycott, stressing that "the leaders, government and security of Saudi Arabia are an untouchable red line."

Employees in a store in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, removed products made in Turkey from the shelves, such as coffee, chocolate and boxes of pickled vegetables, and replaced Turkish cheeses with cheeses made in Egypt.

Saudi Arabia ranks 15th among the major markets for Turkish exports, and imports textiles, chemicals, furnishings, carpets and iron.

Official figures indicate a decline in Turkish exports to 1.9 billion dollars in the first eight months of this year, compared to 3.2 billion dollars in 2019.

The conflict is raging between the two countries over influence in the Islamic world, with differences between Ankara and Riyadh on regional issues from Libya to Syria and even Israel, as Ankara is close to Qatar and has a military base in it, which Riyadh criticizes.

The campaign to boycott Turkish products was not limited to Saudi Arabia only, but spread to several Arab countries, most notably Egypt, the UAE, Morocco and Libya.

T/S

ANHA