Erdogan’s associations in the Gulf

By Maher Farghaly

Turkey’s moves indicate that it has a vision of Arab and Muslim societies and systems and unprecedented attention to its Arab neighbors. For obvious reasons, it is now moving in the Arab region through the term “public diplomacy”. As well as, a strategic project that was used by the big powers to strengthen its influence and expand its reach. It decided to return to the Arab region at an accelerated pace, an employee of the Muslim Brotherhood in the region, after it left almost a century ago and neglected until recently.

In its actions, Turkey has relied on the Brotherhood and on a range of institutions in its foreign policy, public diplomacy policy and regional expansion to expand and spread, and it is one of its means of effective presence in the region.

Turkish institutions and associations represented several areas of work, overseen by businessmen close to the state, including service and finance institutions, or media and technical institutions, which represented a soft power in cultural and economic contacts to work seamlessly to recreate a copy of the Ottoman Empire from North Africa to the Iranian plateau And Central Asia.

“The Association of Turkish and Arab Businessmen” – as it is clear – is aimed at businessmen and aims to establish relations with Arab social and commercial institutions and to promote friendly relations.

The Association is the most prominent example of these associations supervised by the Turkish government, to penetrate the Arab countries. There are many other organizations assigned to it as the Turkish business association «Almossiad». As the economy is an instrument of attraction, and countries can impose certain policies if they can strengthen their economic and trade relations with other countries.

Turkey has used media and art as a soft power because of the active and deep role of the media in promoting any policy or political system. It has set up a number of institutions and offices in a number of Arab countries, including the Turkish trt channel, which expresses Turkish culture in various fields such as art, and transfer them to the Arab world.

Turkey has aimed to make its institutions move to neighboring Arab countries to create the greatest penetration of Arab businessmen, for example the Turkish Union of Chambers (Top).

Turkish Businessmen Association:

Is an association that not only carries the commercial and economic character, but also carries intellectual, political and religious concepts that serve and propagate it. Through its activities inside and outside, and provide support to other civil institutions that are traveling in accordance with its objectives.

Erdogan’s government has taken advantage of economic gatherings in Turkey and the Arab world and has made strides in its goals through the Businessmen Association, which has strengthened cooperation between Arab and Turkish businessmen.

Today, the association has the largest economic community in Turkey, with 2,650 members representing thousands of companies. It has 28 branches in Turkey and 30 liaison centers around the world, including several branches in Kuwait and Qatar.

The association has internal goals of increasing internal economic efficiency and strengthening the status of Turkish businessmen and companies in the global economy.