AD Ports Group’s negotiations to acquire the operating rights for a port in western Turkey have failed, a Turkish official said, marking a blow to the country’s ambitions of attracting investments from the United Arab Emirates.  

“The aim there was to get a partner for the Alsancak port and adding capital to expand it. We have pursued long negotiations with an investor from the Gulf, but no agreement has been achieved,” Turkish Transportation Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu told Bloomberg in Ankara. “There are no ongoing talks with any other investors at the moment.”

Uraloglu didn’t elaborate on reasons for the failure. AD Ports didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The government has been negotiating with AD Ports Group, controlled by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ, since 2023. Interest in Turkish assets from Gulf investors increased following President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s tour to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the same year to attract investments into his $1 trillion economy. After that, the UAE committed $51 billion of support in several sectors. 

Yet so far very few deals have been finalized. Most recently, ADQ and Bank Audi signed a definitive agreement for ADQ to acquire 96% of the share capital of Odeabank, Bank Audi’s subsidiary in Turkey. Previously, a few other deals have failed, including Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy giant Masdar’s negotiations to acquire a stake in Turkey’s Fiba Yenilenebilir Enerji and First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC’s talks with Yapi ve Kredi Bankasi AS.

The Alsancak port, based in the western province of Izmir, has been owned by Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund TWF since 2017 and is operated by national railway company TCDD. 

The port was scheduled for privatization in 2004 and put out to tender in 2007. A group of investors including Hutchison Port Holdings and Global Yatirim Holding submitted the top bid of $1.28 billion, but the deal was blocked by a court decision and the group later withdrew.