Data shows Turkey’s exports to Saudi Arabia in the first two months of the year plunged 93% annually.
Riyadh has never formally acknowledged the boycott against Turkey, but last year top Saudi businessmen endorsed it as a response to what they called hostility by Ankara. “A black market is now emerging where brokers take the Turkish goods to other ports and forge the documents so they appear to be coming from China or Europe for fees,” said one importer of building materials to Saudi Arabia, who requested anonymity.
Seref Fayat, head of Turkey’s TOBB clothing and garment council, said manufacturers are considering sending fabrics the other way, to Bulgaria or Serbia, for “finishing touches” on Saudi-bound goods. A diplomat who requested anonymity said Saudi traders had lost billions of riyals last year as goods piled up at customs.
Ankara and Riyadh have in recent months attempted to repair some diplomatic damage after a decade of tension, especially after the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate.