After the failure of his company in his country due to the high price, recession and the fluctuation of the national currency exchange rate, Sudanese businessman Muhammad Hamdan moved from Khartoum to Istanbul in 2012, where he founded the shipping company "Hamdan Cargo", which is located in the Basaksehir district of the city.

Muhammad says to Al-Jazeera Net, "When I set foot in Istanbul, I did not know anything about Turkey, then I met many people and gained their confidence and became a partner for them after I started selling watches that became part of me, so we used to buy Turkish watches and products from Turkey and sell them to companies in Sudan." ".

"Compared to Arab countries, things are very cheap and of high quality," he added.

Mohamed's company expanded and shipped goods to countries such as Somalia and Senegal in addition to Sudan. It also works on construction projects in Africa with the help of Turkish contractors, as it recently won with its Turkish partners a tender for mechanical and decorative works at Guinea airport.

Muhammad Hamdan's success story summarizes many stories of the success of Arabs who immigrated to Turkey, and their contribution to enriching the Turkish and Arab societies with their experiences and work.

A Qatari bank in the Turkish capital, Ankara (Al-Jazeera)

Similar culture


Despite the presence of large resources in the Arab region, job opportunities are weak and the growth rate is very slow. The Turkish diplomatic openness was followed by economic interaction, and Arab students also contributed to boosting trade.

As for the Palestinian pilgrim Fathi Al-Samaana, who moved with his family from Ramallah to Gaziantep to live there with his son Majdi, who finished studying dentistry in a Turkish university and opened a clinic for him.

He expressed to Al-Jazeera Net his happiness to live in Turkey, which is dominated by mosques and where the call to prayer is heard and the Turks' love for Palestine is felt, indicating the similarity of culture, customs and many characteristics between the Turkish and Arab peoples.

Turkey Bazar application manager Walid Al-Masry presented some stories of Arab investors in a number of Turkish cities.

Among the success stories that Al-Masry presented in a video he posted on YouTube was the Efadh Company for Agriculture and Animal Production owned by Mr. Ahmed Belkady in the state of Balikesir.

The headquarters of the Immigration Department in the Turkish capital, Ankara (Al-Jazeera Net)

An ideal environment


Readings about Arab economic activity in Turkey indicate that Arab businessmen are heading to invest in this country in search of a safe investment environment, government facilities, exemptions and reductions, in addition to ease of financial transfers, official transactions, opening companies and establishing businesses, in addition to the ease of internal mobility and external shipping. .

According to a professor of economics and sociology at the University of "Artuclu" Matin Ayrol, Arab investors have benefited from the low exchange rate of the lira against the dollar.

He told Al-Jazeera Net that Turkey represents an ideal environment for Arabs, given that it is a safe and stable environment close to Arab societies.


Errol believes that the policy of economic openness in Turkey and the advantage of naturalization and stability with the family has attracted many Arabs to Turkey.

As for the head of the Somali community, Muhammad Mahmud Muhammad, he says that Turkey's attraction of Arab investment is due to the strength of Turkish production and the expansion of its export base globally, including Arab countries.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, he pointed out that Somali investors in Turkey are active in the field of services, tourism and real estate, noting that Mogadishu imports goods of about two hundred million dollars annually from there.

Kuwaiti Turkish Bank in the Turkish capital (Al-Jazeera)

Arab students and community, and Arab


students constitute a large percentage in Turkish universities, where the Syrians come first, and their number reached about ten thousand students, then come the Iraqis, who are the largest Arab community after the Syrians, and the number of their students reaches 4414, followed by the Libyans, whose number exceeded 1668 students, according to the site CNN left CNN TURK.

The Arab communities had announced the establishment of a union for them, and that they had obtained a license to work in accordance with Turkish law, and the Administrative Committee stated in a press conference earlier that the Federation is an organization that works to unify the efforts of all representatives of Arab communities.

In this context, the Secretary-General of the Union, Metin Turan, told Al-Jazeera Net that the Turkish government provides the necessary facilities for the Union of Arab Communities, as well as granting it official licenses that help solve the problems that the Arabs face.

He added that the goal of the union is to facilitate communication between the state and Arab communities - the estimated number of 5 million people - and also to provide services to Arabs there, such as solving problems in the immigration department, opening Arab schools and hospitals, developing the relationship with the state and supporting integration.

Arab Real Estate and Investments


Despite the superiority of Europe over the Arab countries in foreign direct investments in Turkey, the data of the Turkish Governmental Investment Office show a remarkable increase in the volume of Arab investments in them in recent years.

Arabs remain the most buyers of Turkish real estate. A few days ago, the Turkish Statistical Institute issued monthly housing numbers, as Iraq stands out in this category, surpassing all countries.

Iraqis bought about 18% of the 143,000 homes sold to foreigners between 2015 and 2019, followed by the Iranians and Saudis at 9% each, the Russians at 5%, Kuwaitis, Qataris and Emiratis with less than 5% for each nationality.