The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is Turkey’s number one trade partner in the Middle East, the UAE’s state minister for foreign affairs said Thursday.

“We don’t cherish any feuds with Turkey,” Anwar Gargash told the US-based Bloomberg.

Turkey’s desire to expand its regional role “at the expense of Arab countries” constitutes the main problem between the two countries, Gargash claimed.

The UAE will soon resume transport and trade with Qatar, Gargash said earlier on Thursday.

"Transport and trade between the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in line with the Al-Ula agreement will take place within a week of the signing of the agreement," said Gargash.

"We are happy that we have turned the page of this crisis, and we are looking forward to the future of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the country [UAE] is working to implement the Al-Ula agreement," he added.

On Tuesday, the city of Al-Ula in northwestern Saudi Arabia hosted the 41st Gulf Summit, which saw the announcement of the end of a Gulf crisis that continued since 2017 between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt.

In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt imposed a land, air, and sea blockade on Qatar, claiming its support for terrorism, which Doha denied and considered an attempt to undermine its sovereignty./aa

US President-elect Joe Biden upped the rhetoric Thursday against pro-President Donald Trump rioters who stormed the US Capitol, calling them "domestic terrorists." 

"Don't dare call them protesters," Biden said during a news conference. "They were a riotous mob, insurrectionists, domestic terrorists. It's that basic. It's that simple."

Legally, the US has no domestic terrorism statute under which it could realistically label the individuals. But the FBI and local law enforcement are seeking to determine who they were in order to arrest and charge them.

Trump and his political allies have for months falsely alleged that the election he lost to Biden by 7 million votes was rigged, roiling emotions among his supporters with conspiracy theories that have been repeatedly rejected in court. The Justice Department also found no evidence to support his claims of widespread voter fraud.

Trump earlier Wednesday stirred the pot during a nearby rally with his supporters just hours before the Capitol was overrun, telling them he would "never concede" defeat while alleging there was "theft involved."

"Our country has had enough, and we will not take it anymore," he told a mass gathering of people, many of whom likely later flooded the Capitol. "We will stop the steal."

Four people died during Wednesday's melee.

Biden said the mayhem was a completely predictable result of the president's cajoling, as well as the entirety of his four-year term as it draws to an end.

“I wish we could say we couldn’t see it coming. That isn’t true. We could see it coming," he said. "The past four years we’ve had a president whose made his contempt for our democracy, our Constitution, the rule of law, clear in everything he has done. He unleashed an all-out assault on our institutions of our democracy from the outset.”/aa

The Turkish Coast Guard rescued at least 41 asylum seekers pushed into Turkish territorial waters by Greece in two separate incidents Thursday, according to security sources.

A Coast Guard team was dispatched to an area off Gunes Island in western Balikesir province after learning of a group of asylum seekers stranded on a lifeboat, said a source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Thirteen asylum seekers wanted to reach Lesbos Island in Greece, said the source. They were referred to the Coast Guard Command on Cunda Island in Turkey.

And 28 asylum seekers were held in western Izmir province after asking the coast guard to be rescued in Dikili district.

They were later transferred to the provincial migration office.

"We spent three hours on the boat and reached Greece. We saw a boat. It was the Greek boat and we asked them for help,” according to a woman on the boat. “They came and started following us. Then they took our engine and told us to go back. They followed us until the Turkish Coast Guard rescued us.”

Cameras recorded the moment when the rubber boat was pushed into Turkish territorial waters by Greece.

It showed two Greek zodiac boats approaching the boat in Greek territorial waters and officials pushing asylum seekers into Turkish waters instead of performing a rescue operation.

Turkey has been a key transit point for asylum seekers who want to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.

Turkey opened its gates to irregular migrants in 2020 after accusing the EU of failing to keep its promises under a 2016 migrant deal.

Turkey hosts nearly 4 million Syrians, more than any other country in the world./aa

A local court in Tanzania on Tuesday set free a prominent human rights lawyer and another person charged with “economic crimes,” including money laundering and organized crimes.

Tito Magoti, a 27-year-old lawyer and outspoken government critic, and Theodory Giyan, an IT specialist at a private firm, were arrested on Dec. 20, 2019.

Both were charged with “leading organized crime, possession of a computer program designed for the purpose of committing an offence and money laundering," and had since been detained without trial.

The duo paid a fine of 17.3 million Tanzanian shillings (approximately $7,500) as part of a plea bargain deal after they pleaded guilty to one count of leading organized crime with intent to earn illegal income.

Human rights defenders have criticized the verdict, saying the accused were “forced to buy their freedom.”

“After more than 1 year of detention without trial, Tito Magoti and Theo have been forced to buy their freedom by pleading guilty and paying a fine,” Fatma Karume, a human rights lawyer, wrote on Twitter.

The Human Rights Watch and Amnesty international had repeatedly been urging the government of Tanzania to unconditionally release the duo, terming the charges against them “spurious."/aa

The World Bank increased Turkey's gross domestic product (GDP) projection for 2020, according to its Global Economic Prospects report released Tuesday.

The international financial institution estimates that the Turkish economy grew 0.5% in 2020, up from an estimated 3.8% contraction in June, "amid a substantial expansion in credit," the report said.

Turkey is forecast to see its GDP grow 4.5% in 2021, down from previous expectations of a 5% increase.

"The outlook has been downgraded as the sharp acceleration in new COVID-19 cases, weaker than-expected international tourism, and tighter than-anticipated monetary policy weigh on the recovery," the report said.

It is estimated to see 5% growth in 2022.

"Despite hikes in the policy interest rate, the lira hit new lows against the US dollar, which eroded balance sheets and limited the space available for additional countercyclical policy responses," it said.

Fourth worst recession in 150 years

The Bank said it estimates that the global economy contracted 4.3% in 2020, making it the fourth-worst global recession in the last 150 years, due to the coronavirus and shutdown measures.

The world economy is forecast to recover in 2021 by growing 4% and expand another 3.8% in 2022.

"Given the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, prospects for the global economy are uncertain," the report said. "Nonetheless, the level of global GDP in 2021 is forecast to be 5.3% below pre-pandemic projections -- or about $4.7 trillion."

Advanced economies are expected to grow at a slower rate in 2021 and 2022, compared to emerging market and developing economies.

The institution expects advanced economies to expand 3.3% and 3.5% in 2021 and 2022, respectively, while projections are 5% and 4.2% growth for developing countries.

The US is estimated to see its GDP increase 3.5% and 3.3% in 2021 and 2022, respectively. China is forecast to rise 7.9% and 5.2%. /aa

In a long-awaited move in the Gulf crisis, Saudi Arabia has agreed to re-open its airspace, land and sea borders to Qatar as of Monday evening.

On Tuesday, Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani was embraced by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman upon arrival in Saudi Arabia to attend the annual Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit.

The warm welcome signaled the end of a long-running dispute between Qatar and its Gulf neighbors, in a move seen by analysts as mainly aiming to create a regional bloc to counter arch-rival Iran.

“The reconciliation agreement can be described as a partial settlement of the Gulf crisis,” Mutahar Al-Sofari, a Yemeni political analyst, told Anadolu Agency.

“The GCC countries are trying to put more pressure on Iran and improving the Gulf position vis-à-vis Tehran in case the US decided to tighten its economic blockade on Iran,” he said.

Opening the GCC summit in the historic Saudi city of al-Ula, bin Salman called for rallying efforts to counter the threat posed by Iran.

The de facto ruler of the oil-rich kingdom said Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and “subversive and destructive plans” require a serious action by the international community.

Bin Salman said the Gulf summit will be “inclusive”, leading the states toward “reunification and solidarity in facing the challenges of our region”.

“There is an utmost need for the GCC states to unite their efforts to advance the region and confront the challenges that surround it, particularly the threats posed by the Iranian regime's nuclear program,” he said.

Leaders of the Gulf countries signed a document during the summit to resolve their dispute, despite the contents were not immediately released.

Israel ties

Ahead of the summit, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Ahmad Nasser Al-Sabah announced the reopening of airspace and land and sea border between Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

“There are many motives for this reconciliation, including the non-stop Kuwaiti efforts to resolve the crisis, the lengthy period of the crisis without achieving any change in Qatar’s position, as well as the American pressure, especially from [President Donald] Trump, who is keen to make a kind of achievement before leaving the White House,” Al-Sofari said.

Al-Sofari believes that the de-escalation was an “initial step” toward normalizing relations with Israel.

“Saudi Arabia has its own motives for settlement as it is keen to open new relations in the region and pave the way for bin Salman to become the king of Saudi Arabia soon,” he said. “Bin Salman’s presidency of the Gulf summit today is an evidence of that.”

In September, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed US-brokered deals to normalize their relations with Israel. Sudan and Morocco followed suit.

Economic losses

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Jaber Al-Harami, a Qatari political analyst, said the major challenges and risks afflicting the region prompted practical steps towards the Gulf reconciliation.

“Regional challenges and Saudi Arabia’s challenges in Yemen, Iraq and Syria, relations with Iran and the kingdom’s pressuring economic situation have all created a serious political will to end the dispute and resolve the crisis,” Al-Harami said.

Over the past three years, both Riyadh and Doha experienced major losses due to the decline in energy prices and the coronavirus pandemic.

“After three and a half years, every side has paid a heavy price of this crisis, and both sides came to the conviction that there is no point of continuing. Rather, the continuation of the crisis will cause severe loss for the GCC as a whole,” Al-Harami said.

The GCC has also been badly paralyzed by the Gulf rift as the bloc has lost a great deal of influence with the GCC countries failing to work as a single body.

Biden's win

As Qatar hosts the largest US military base in the Middle East, Trump's administration has been concerned that the rift between Washington’s regional allies has weakened its efforts to create a regional bloc against Iran.

Analysts believe that the Trump administration has piled pressure on the Gulf nations to resolve the dispute as it seeks to claim a diplomatic win before President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20.

“There is an American supportive role for the Kuwaiti mediation, which has played a major role in reaching a solution for this crisis. Kuwait started the mediation process since the first moments of the crisis. The late Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad started the process, and then the current Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad continued this path,” he said.

Trump’s son-in-aw and senior adviser Jared Kushner was seen in the room in televised footage as the Saudi crown prince delivered his speech during the GCC summit.

On June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt imposed a blockade on Qatar, claiming that the Gulf state was “supporting terrorism” and that it was too close to Iran.

Qatar has repeatedly denied the allegations, saying that there was “no legitimate justification” for the relations to get tense, and accused its neighbors of attacking its sovereignty./aa

Mohammed Alragawi