DM Monitoring
ANKARA: Turkey and Qatar work hand in hand to find peaceful solutions to regional problems, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Thursday, underlining that the bilateral ties between the two countries are strengthening by the day.
Speaking at a news conference with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha, Çavuşoğlu said the countries would continue to cooperate not just in trade but in all possible fields. Çavuşoğlu underlined that Turkey welcomes the normalizing of ties between Qatar and other Gulf counties, commending Kuwait’s efforts during the process. “This is an important start. But we hope that the ties between the brotherly countries will return to normal completely. Still, the lifting of the embargoes is a crucial beginning point,” he said.
In June 2017, a Saudi-led coalition issued 13 sweeping demands, including the closure of the Al Jazeera news network and the shuttering of a Turkish military base, in exchange for ending its blockade of Qatar. They also demanded Doha curb relations with Riyadh’s archrival, Tehran, in a situation that came to be known as the Gulf crisis. Qatar rejected the demands, calling them “unrealistic” and “not actionable,” leading to a stalemate. The rift seems to have eased, with the countries now reengaging in dialogue. Emphasizing the fact that Turkey views the stability and security of the Gulf region as a reflection of its own stability and wealth, the foreign minister highlighted that Turkey is prepared to boost diplomatic cooperation with the regional countries through the establishment of more bilateral diplomatic mechanisms.
He went on to say that Turkey and Qatar’s partnership could be helpful in restoring peace to the region and that the two are willing to mediate conflicts, including the issue of the U.S. sanctions on Iran over its nuclear activities. Çavuşoğlu also called for the war in Yemen to come to an immediate end, underlining the urgent need for peace in the region. He added that Turkey would continue to support U.N. initiatives in this respect.
Yemen’s war began in September 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and began a march south to try to seize the entire country. Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other countries, entered the war alongside Yemen’s internationally recognized government in March 2015.
