Middle Eastern foes are giving diplomacy a shot
Exhausted from years of conflict and eager for growth, rivals are talking
IT WAS A surprising choice for a summer holiday. On August 18th Tahnoon bin Zayed, the national-security adviser of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), turned up in Ankara to meet Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey. The countries have been at odds for years over Mr Erdogan’s support for Islamist groups around the Middle East. Turkish officials accused the UAE of abetting a failed coup in 2016. But none of that was mentioned in the official statement after their meeting, which talked instead of economic co-operation.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Less battle, more banter”
From the September 18th 2021 edition
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Donald Trump’s Syria policy is still a work in progress
America’s evangelicals may be Ahmed al-Sharaa’s most important allies
Iran’s leader hopes America can save his faltering regime
Ali Khamenei has no choice but to engage with the Great Satan