Erdogan visits Qatar with his economy on the slide

For Recep Tayyip Erdogan the visit to Qatar has been something of an inevitability. The only surprise is that he left it for so long.

Having taken Turkey on a journey of diminishing friendships and overstretched ambitions, Mr Erdogan is in a desperate battle to stop the economy falling into a tailspin.

While the purpose of the visit was a military partnership, dollar signs were on the minds of the Turkish leadership. The $5 billion (Dh18.36bn) currency swap deposit by the Qataris into the Turkish central bank will bring Mr Erdogan some respite from the markets.

In the two years since the president’s son-in-law, Berat Albayrak, was appointed Treasury secretary, Turkey’s troubled economy has faltered badly.

Mr Erdogan tried to cajole Turks not to turn their savings into dollars. “Let us show our nationalism,” he said before departing. “Let us not use dollars. Let’s turn to Turkish lira.”

A bailout from Qatar – in dollars – allows the central bank to accept more deposits and provides stability for the economy.

It is unlikely to address endemic flaws in the economy. A hike in taxes targeting high value property as well as digital services and hotels shook investor confidence.

After the sacking of the head of official statistics, few believe the country’s inflation numbers any longer. A dip under 10 per cent in the rate of price increases was widely mocked last month. Almost everyone believes the increases are deep into double digits.

The Turkish economy is trapped in a spiral of high debts and soaring prices. Mr Erdogan’s Anatolian miracle economy has become a mirage.

Some of the damage is self-inflicted. By buying the S400 Russia-made air defence system the country lost $12bn in contracts in the US F-35 fighter jet programme.

The supremacy of politics over economics under Mr Erdogan makes it difficult to see where a recovery starts. By tilting ever closer to an axis involving Qatar, Iran and Russia, Mr Erdogan expects short-term support. How that staves off disaster in the long-run is less easy to discern.