Saudi Arabia blockades Turkish textile imports

Saudi Arabia has been implementing an embargo on Turkish textile products for over two weeks, Turkish daily Yeniçağ reported on Thursday.

The Saudis have been keeping hundreds of Turkish trucks at the Saudi border and thousands of packages from Turkey in their airports, Yeniçağ said, adding that only Turkish products have been blocked.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia have been at odds since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman came to power in 2017 due to conflicting interests in the region. The crown prince last year accused Turkey, Qatar, and Iran of forming an “axis of evil” in the region by supporting extremist groups.

The tensions between the countries peaked after the murder last October of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist and vocal critic of Salman who went missing on Oct. 2, during a visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

After two weeks of official denials, Saudi Arabia admitted that Khashoggi was killed at the consulate and arrested 18 people related to the murder.

Source: Ahval