Turkey’s Erdogan holds talks with Qatar’s ruler

Oct 7, 2020

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a one-day visit to Doha on Wednesday for a meeting with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.   

During his single-day trip to the small Gulf country, Erdogan had a closed-door meeting with the Qatari emir at his sea palace in the capital, reported the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency. 

“We believe that high-level diplomatic visits between Qatar and Turkey are very important and necessary,” Qatar’s Ambassador to Turkey Salem bin Mubarak Al Shafi told the outlet. “Such visits maintain the momentum in bilateral relations and help better consult and coordinate on swift changes and regional and international issues.”

Turkey has remained one of Qatar’s closest allies in the region since the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt imposed an economic and diplomatic blockade on Qatar in June 2017. The three countries accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism, which Doha denies.

Thousands of Turkish troops are stationed at Ankara’s military base in Qatar. The so-called “anti-terror quartet” has demanded its closure as a condition for lifting their blockade. 

Turkey and Qatar are also on the same side of the Libya conflict, with both supporting the United Nations-backed government in Tripoli. The eastern-based army led by Khalifa Hifter has the support of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia. With Turkish air support, the Government of National Accord (GNA) was able to recapture Tripoli from Hifter’s forces in June.

Also on Wednesday, Erdogan visited Kuwait to give his condolences to the newly sworn-in emir, Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, over the death of his predecessor. Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah died last week at the age of 91.