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How will White Revolution in Saudi Arabia affect relations with Ankara?

Commentary Materials 22 June 2017 17:49 (UTC +04:00)
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud’s appointment as the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, instead of Mohammed bin Nayef, is nothing more than a White Revolution in the Kingdom.
How will White Revolution in Saudi Arabia affect relations with Ankara?

Baku, Azerbaijan, June 22

By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:

Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud’s appointment as the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, instead of Mohammed bin Nayef, is nothing more than a White Revolution in the Kingdom.

There is a tradition in Saudi Arabia requiring the approval of three instances for becoming a crown prince and then a king. And there is no doubt that Prince Mohammed bin Salman received the approval of all the three instances – first of all, the US, secondly, the ruling dynasty, and, thirdly, the Supreme Religious Council.

The US approval was received in March 2017 during a meeting between Mohammed bin Salman and President Donald Trump. Also, during the visit of the US president to Saudi Arabia, the sides signed military contracts worth $110 billion – a price entitling Mohammed bin Salman to claim the throne in Saudi Arabia.

According to the Arab media, the US and Saudi Arabia do not disclose the exact figure of the signed contract. “The US and Saudi Arabia signed contracts worth $460 billion, $110 billion of which is intended for the purchase of US weapons, and the remaining $350 billion will be spent for implementation of various American projects in the region and in the US,” the Arab media report.

The White Revolution in Saudi Arabia will sooner or later lead to changes in the region. It is possible that Saudi Arabia will support an independence referendum in Iraq’s Kurdish Autonomous Region to weaken the Iraqi government, which is under Iranian influence.

Previously, Masoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, was more loyal to the central government of Iraq. But today Barzani threaten to wage a war if the central government of the country prevents the independence referendum.

Also, it is possible that Saudi Arabia will support the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which openly say they will not leave the territory liberated by them from the “Islamic State” (IS) terrorist group.

Taking this into account, Turkey has recently been deploying military equipment to the border with Syria. Military equipment is in Turkey’s south-central province of Kilis, which borders Syrian territories controlled by YPG and PYD. The Turkish media regards this action as preparation for opening of a new military front in Syria.

Besides the abovementioned, the new prince is expected to become a supporter of the policy of ousting Turkey from the Middle East politics. In particular, it is expected that if Ankara continues its active Middle East policies, Arab countries can begin to isolate Turkey diplomatically. In particular, the Egyptian authorities have already issued a statement on isolating Turkey and imposing economic sanctions on it. Meanwhile, despite Ankara understands that the Middle East region is on the verge of serious changes, the Turkish authorities have so far made no official statements.

The White Revolution in Saudi Arabia is expected to make a domino effect in a number of neighboring countries, in particular in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is not excluded that the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is one of the closest associates of Mohammed bin Salman, will sooner or later replace Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruler of the United Arab Emirates.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu

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