Qatar's money trying to prevent Erdogan's collapse
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan uses his country's resources to boost his influence. He presents concessions to the Qatari regime, his closest ally at present. This can explain why Erdgaon has decided to sell shares in Qatari institutions to Qatar recently.
Erdogan just wanted to
get additional funds from Qatar in order to overcome the financial and economic
crises his country is facing.
However, the Turkish
opposition is accusing Erdogan of selling his country's assets to Qatar.
Opposition legislators have also called for bringing the Turkish president to
account, making Erdogan's supporters angry.
In Qatar's hands
The crisis broke out on
Nov. 27 when an opposition MP submitted a request to the speaker of parliament
for questioning the Turkish president and the prime minister.
He said he would
question both top officials over infringements in the construction of a
shopping mall in Istanbul.
The MP noted that the
Turkish company constructing the shopping mall sold 42% of shares in the mall
to a Qatari company for $1 billion.
The Turkish government
sold a shopping mall to the Qataris in Istanbul in 2015 when the municipality
was still controlled by the now-ruling Justice and Development Party. The
street where the mall is located has been since then renamed "Qatar
Street".
Turkish media revealed,
meanwhile, that Erdogan had sold the Turkish stock exchange for the Qataris.
This came after the
Turkish Sovereign Fund signed an agreement for selling 10% of the shares of the
stock exchange to Qatar.
When asked about the
deal, Erdogan said it was a positive move that would promote the status of the
Turkish Sovereign Fund.
