Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will visit Qatar today amid regional tensions between Gulf states. Çavuşoğlu will discuss bilateral relations and recent regional developments in with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani. Turkey has said it stood with Qatar against sanctions and urged Saudi Arabia to take the lead in finding a solution to the crisis.
Before his visit, a three-person Turkish military delegation arrived in Qatar yesterday to explore and prepare for the establishment of a military base to deploy Turkish military troops in Qatar, the Turkish General Staff announced in an official statement yesterday. The visit came in accordance with an earlier agreement between the two countries.
“Our three-person delegation was sent to Qatar on June 12. It continues to work on the preparation of a base for deploying the Turkish troops, carrying out the necessary work and establishing coordination,” the statement said.
According to Turkish Ambassador to Qatar, Ahmet Demirok, some 3,000 soldiers of the ground forces, servicemen of the country’s air forces and navy, as well as instructors and special forces, will be deployed on the base in Qatar.
Last Wednesday, the Turkish parliament approved a draft law that authorises the deployment of Turkish armed forces in Qatar according to a previous protocol between the two countries. The national assembly also passed a bill on cooperation between Turkey and Qatar to train gendarmerie and security forces between the two countries.
On Thursday, the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ratified on the parliament’s bill authorising the implementation of the agreement of deploying Turkish military personnel in Qatar.
On 5 June, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and embargoed all sea, air and land traffic to the country, accusing Doha of “supporting terrorists and destabilising the Middle East.” Several states in the region have followed this move. (EVRENSEL DAILY)
Bülent Falakaoğlu
Hakkı Özdal
