Saudis shun ‘made in Turkey’ as rivalry deepens

From pickled vine leaves to coffee and cheese, Saudi supermarkets are taking Turkish products off the shelves after calls for a boycott, as rivalry between Riyadh and Ankara heats up.

The two countries have long competed for supremacy in the Muslim world, but their geopolitical rivalry intensified after Saudi agents murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate in 2018.

The wealthy Gulf petro-state has sought to pressure Turkey’s already struggling economy, with high-rolling Saudi tourists facing calls from nationalists last year to boycott the tourism magnet and stop purchasing property there.

Now, Turkish exporters of textiles and other goods are complaining of inordinate delays at Saudi customs, and warning that Riyadh’s attempts to block the imports could disrupt global supply chains.

This week, after an earlier call from the head of the Saudi chamber of commerce to "boycott everything Turkish", multiple supermarket chains announced they were stopping the import and sale of Turkish products. "This decision has come in solidarity with the popular boycott campaign," one of them, Abdullah AlOthaim Markets, said on Twitter.