Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to visit ally Gulf nation Qatar on December 6-7, Halk TV reported on Tuesday. The Turkish leader is expected to discuss the latest developments in Afghanistan, as well as bilateral and regional issues with his Qatari counterpart during the visit, HalkTV said. Turkey and Qatar have enjoyed burgeoning ties under Erdoğan’s rule with the country providing crucial funds as Turkey’s foreign exchange reserves began to dwindle during the 2018 currency crisis. Qatar is “Turkey’s third-biggest foreign investor,” according to the Economist. Meanwhile, Erdoğan on Monday announced a visit to long-time regional rival the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in February, state-run TRT network reported. The visit arrives amid a thaw in relations between the two countries following a decade of difficult relations. Last week, the de-facto ruler of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, visited Turkey for the first time in almost a decade, in a visit that concluded promise of $10 billion of Emirati investment. The vow coincided with the Turkish lira’s plunging to record lows. The Turkish president on Monday said similar steps would be taken to mend broken relations with other regional rivals Egypt and Israel, according to TRT. Ankara and Cairo broke off relations after the 2013 overthrow of ex-president and Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi, who was supported by Erdoğan. The countries expelled their respective ambassadors and downgraded their relations in 2013. Relations between Turkey and Israel have been perpetually strained, and the Turkish president regularly makes disparaging comments about Israel.
Ahval