Saudi Arabia Suspends Turkish Meat Imports   

Saudi Arabia formally suspended imports of meat, eggs, and other products from Turkey earlier this month, according to the Turkish exporters’ union said.

The suspension came after a months-long informal boycott of Turkish goods over political tensions between the two regional rivals.

Turkish exporters have reported increasing obstacles to trade in Saudi Arabia, as businessmen in the Gulf Arab state have led calls for banning Turkish imports.  Also ties between the two countries have deteriorated.

Already strained by competing ambitions for regional influence, the relations plunged into crisis two years ago when Saudi agents killed prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Ankara says it has been told by Riyadh that there is no formal boycott, but the exporters’ union said it had been informed by Turkey’s trade ministry that imports of some Turkish goods had been suspended earlier this month.

“Imports from our country of red meat and products, white meat and products, water products, eggs and honey, and their products, as well as milk and... alternatives to breast milk, have been suspended as of November 15,” the union told its members.

No one could be contacted at the Saudi embassy in Ankara on Friday. Turkey’s trade ministry was not available for immediate comment.

Turkey’s Exporters Assembly says exports to Saudi Arabia fell 16% in the first 10 months of this year to $2.23 billion.

Turkey’s Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said this week that Riyadh insisted there was no official boycott of Turkish goods - something Ankara could formally challenge through the World Trade Organization.

Both countries have reason to calm tensions as they brace for change under a new U.S. administration. President-elect Joe Biden, who has sharply criticized Erdogan, will face pressure from Congress to sanction Turkey for buying Russian defense equipment and has pledged to reassess ties with Saudi Arabia.

But there has been no immediate sign of Saudi-Turkish rapprochement, and some Turkish businesses say they have suffered for some months.