Relationship dossier
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
Relationship assessment
Turkey and the UAE have moved from regional rivalry toward closer economic and diplomatic cooperation.
Turkey toward United Arab Emirates
+35Turkey pursued closer economic ties with the UAE through high-level engagement and the 2023 Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which provides a framework for expanded trade and investment. These steps followed a period of strained relations over regional policies.
United Arab Emirates toward Turkey
+35The UAE pursued closer economic ties with Turkey, including an investment commitment announced during the 2021 rapprochement, and entered a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Turkey in 2023. It also sent substantial earthquake relief to Turkey in 2023.
Overall relationship
+35The relationship combines a concrete and growing economic partnership with a history of significant regional policy differences. High-level rapprochement, the economic partnership agreement, and UAE earthquake assistance reflect substantial cooperation, while earlier disagreements over regional conflicts and political movements temper the partnership.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Turkey and the United Arab Emirates shifted from regional rivalry toward sustained rapprochement and practical economic cooperation. Turkey and the UAE signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in 2023, following high-level engagement and a UAE investment commitment announced in 2021. The UAE also provided substantial assistance to Turkey after the February 2023 earthquakes. Earlier differences over regional conflicts and political movements remain part of the relationship's background.
Areas of tension
- Earlier differences over the 2013 change of government in Egypt and the role of political Islamist movements.
- Competing regional alignments and policies during the Libya conflict.
Key developments
Turkey and the UAE announced a rapprochement and a UAE investment commitment during Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed's visit to Turkey.
Turkey and the UAE signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
The UAE provided substantial humanitarian assistance to Turkey after the February 2023 earthquakes.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of announced UAE investment commitments in Turkey are unclear.
- The extent to which earlier regional policy differences continue to constrain cooperation is uncertain.