Middle East & Africa | A special relationship

How Qatar and Turkey came together

Ideology, economics and angry neighbours have pushed them closer

Friends with benefits
|ISTANBUL

WHEN TURKEY looks around its region, it sees angry faces. Many Arab states view the Islamism of its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as a threat. The European Union is unhappy with Turkey for instigating a row over drilling rights in the Mediterranean. America, a NATO ally with troops in Turkey, has imposed sanctions on it, most recently for buying a Russian air-defence system. Yet Turkey doesn’t even get on that well with Russia, which has bombed its allies in Libya and Syria.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “The special relationship”

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