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Saudi Arabia changes Ottoman ‘Empire’ to ‘occupation’ in school textbooks
Ottoman Empire public demonstration in 1908 [file photo]
August 29, 2019 at 1:16 pm
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Saudi-Turkey dispute affects economy
Saudi Arabia’s official defamation of the Empire – or Caliphate, as it is widely known – signals a heightened sense of nationalism, as well as a strong anti-Turkish sentiment which has dominated the kingdom’s narrative in recent years.
Critics of the move by the Saudi ministry have likened it to the similarity of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s popular narrative of the Ottoman Empire, exploiting a rising sense of Arab nationalism while countering the perceived increasing influence of Turkey in the region by attacking and defaming its imperial history.
Over the past few years, relations between Saudi and Turkey have been increasingly strained by diplomatic differences and by each other’s involvement in the Syrian civil war, and especially by Turkey’s support of Qatar following the ongoing blockadeimposed on it by the kingdom, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt in 2017.
Relations reached breaking point with the murder of US-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October last year. Following months of investigations into the murder and a UN report concluding that Saudi agents killed Khashoggi under the direct command of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Turkey has repeatedly called for those responsible to be brought to justice.
Consequently, the Kingdom has been pushing a campaign to encourage its tourists to boycott Turkey through all possible means, including the purchase of products, consumption of foods, sale of properties, dealings with Turkish companies, and especially tourism to the country. The campaign has garnered support amongst Saudi royals and figures, a famous case being when Riyadh’s influential governor Faisal bin Bandar declined an offer of Turkish coffee, triggering a call for a boycott of Turkish products.
READ: In effort to discourage tourism, Saudi warns of passport thefts in Turkey
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