Turkey to intervene to try and repair Qatar/GCC rift
ANKARA/DOHA: Turkey sent its foreign minister to Qatar yesterday as part of a drive to repair Qatar’s rift with fellow Gulf Arab states.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have broken off ties and imposed sanctions on Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism and courting regional rival Iran – allegations Doha denies.
“We do not want any differences between our brothers in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC), and it is not enough to say that there is a problem without trying to resolve it,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters on arrival.
“Turkey seeks to resolve the unprecedented crisis between brotherly countries in the GCC.”
President Tayyip Erdogan has cultivated close ties to Qatar, setting up a military base there while preserving relations with Saudi Arabia.
Turkey and Qatar have both provided support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt – a broad movement whose Islamist goals are anathema not only to Egypt’s ex-military president, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, but also to the Gulf’s dynastic rulers.
Qatar has a population of 2.7 million people and vast gas wealth. The sanctions have disrupted imports of food and other materials, as well as travel.
Before the diplomatic and commercial embargo, Qatar imported 80% of its food from bigger Gulf Arab neighbours. Now it has been talking to Iran and Turkey to obtain food and water.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, speaking after talks in Washington with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, said the sanctions did not amount to a blockade since Qatar’s airports and ports remained open, and offered to send food and medical supplies if needed.
Qatar said the Saudi offer confirmed that the closure of transport links “is a siege, not a boycott”. – Reuters