Turkey + UAE cozy up: Ankara and Abu Dhabi signed 13 cooperation agreements during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the UAE yesterday, Bloomberg reports. Erdogan and Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan agreed to look into improving trade between the two countries and cooperating on defense industries. The meeting between the two leaders is the second in three months, after the UAE leader’s visit to Turkey in November, signaling an end to years of bitterness with Ankara over its alleged backing of Islamist groups.
Israel + Bahrain seem to have caught the Valentine’s Day bug, too. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet became the first Israeli leader to visit Bahrain yesterday, building on a diplomatic thaw that saw Israel forge a formal relationship with several Arab states including Bahrain in 2020, the New York Times reports.