Trump and Erdogan in talks about Qatar crisis

While Turkey sends troops to Doha military base

ABU DHABI // Donald Trump spoke to Turkey’s president yesterday about the dispute between Qatar and four fellow Arab states that accuse it of supporting terrorism.

The White House said the US president and Recep Tayyip Erdogan talked about ways to resolve the dispute “while ensuring that all countries work together to stop terrorist funding and to combat extremist ideology”. Turkey has backed Doha in its rift with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, which cut all ties with Qatar last month.

The four countries last week presented Qatar with a list of 13 conditions for ending their boycott, and set a 10-day deadline for Doha to comply. Mr Trump, who has accused Qatar of funding terrorism “at a very high level”, has given his secretary of state the responsibility for resolving the biggest crisis among Washington’s Gulf Arab allies.

The US state and defence departments have taken a less robust stance, and secretary of state Rex Tillerson said that it would be “very difficult” for Doha to meet all the demands.

Qatar’s defence minister visited Ankara yesterday, just days before the deadline for the demands, which include the closure of a permanent Turkish military base near Doha.

Khalid Al Attiyah met his Turkish counterpart, Fikri Isik, at the Turkish defence ministry, Turkey’s state news agency reported. Mr Erdogan accelerated planned troop deployment to the Turkish base, which was set up last year, three days after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar on June 5.

Yesterday, Al Jazeera reported the arrival of more Turkish troops at the base, citing the Qatari defence ministry.

Both countries say the troops are there to conduct training and exercises with Qatari forces.

Turkish officials have said the base could house as many as several thousand troops. The deployment of more Turkish forces has been widely perceived to be intended as a deterrent against any military moves or attempts at regime change in Qatar.

Turkish officials have said they will not close the base in Qatar, and Mr Erdogan last week said the demand to shutter the base was “disrespect to Turkey”.

Turkey has also stepped up exports of food and other goods to Qatar, along with Iran.

Saudi and UAE officials have said Turkey’s troop deployment amounts to a military escalation of the crisis. Riyadh’s ambassador to Ankara, Walid Al Khuraiji, told Turkey’s Daily Sabah newspaper yesterday that “any regional forces are mistaken if they think that their interven- tion will solve the issue, and we expect these forces to respect the existing regional order”, in a reference to the Turkish base.

Also yesterday, the office of the UN human rights commissioner said Qatari media had presented “inaccurate accounts” of a meeting on Thursday between Zeid Al Hussein and the Qatari permanent representative to the UN. It said reports “significantly distort” Mr Al Hussein’s remarks.