⁍ Saudi Arabia and Turkey have been at odds for some years over foreign policy and attitudes towards political Islamist groups.

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⁍ The murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi’s Istanbul consulate in 2018 escalated tensions sharply.

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⁍ Earlier this year the two countries blocked some of each other’s news websites.

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– The head of Saudi Arabia’s Chambers of Commerce is calling for a boycott of Turkish products in response to the “continued hostility of the Turkish government against our leadership, country, and citizens,” Reuters reports. “A boycott of everything Turkish, be it imports, investment or tourism, is the responsibility of every Saudi ‘trader and consumer,’ in response to the continued hostility of the Turkish government against our leadership, country, and citizens,” Ajlan al-Ajlan tweeted Saturday. Al-Ajlan’s call for a boycott of Turkish products follows reports from merchants that animosity between Ankara and Riyadh is hindering the flow of goods between the two regional powers. A Saudi importer told Reuters that containers he imported this year from Turkey lay for three months with customs before being released. He said customs officials informally advised him not to import directly from Turkey again. Turkish opposition lawmaker Mehmet G ⁇ zelmansur said last week that goods, in particular perishable fruit and vegetables, exported from his region of Hatay are held at the Saudi border for longer than necessary on arrival. In comments reported in Turkish media and on his Twitter page, he said he was concerned that what he described as the partial, informal embargo by Saudi Arabia would be deepened. On Thursday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan took a swipe at the Gulf Arab states in a speech to parliament. “It should not be forgotten that the countries in question did not exist yesterday, and probably will not exist tomorrow. But we will continue to fly our flag in this geography forever with the permission of Allah,” Erdogan said.