As economy falters, Qatar emir heads to Turkey

The Qatari emir will travel to Turkey today amid increasing economic pressure at home after 100 days of a boycott by neighbouring countries over his country’s support of terrorist groups.

In his first trip abroad since the crisis started, Sheikh Tamim will meet president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and hold talks on “bilateral ties and regional as well as international developments”, the Turkish presidency said.

Mr Erdogan has supported Qatar and helped supply food and other goods despite an embargo imposed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain. The quartet have insisted that Qatar stop supporting and financing extremist groups, interfering in their internal affairs and having close relations with Iran.

At an Arab League meeting in Cairo on Tuesday the four countries reiterated their accusations of Qatar’s support of terrorism.

Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said: “It is important that the approach of supporting terrorism and extremism and interfering in our and other Arab countries’ affairs changes.

“We will continue our measures against Qatar until that approach is changed and until we ensure that we are safe from such hostile policies.”

Turkish prime minister Binali Yildirim said yesterday that Kuwait’s mediation in the Qatar crisis had led to a significant de-escalation. He was speaking ahead of a meeting with his Kuwaiti counterpart, Sheikh Jaber Al Mubarak.

During a visit to Washington over the weekend, the emir of Kuwait said his country’s mediation successfully stopped a military intervention.

At the Arab League meeting, Dr Gargash denied that the UAE and its three allies in the crisis had ever considered a military option during the dispute.

The four countries, who cut off relations with Qatar on June 5, have insisted on their desire for dialogue.

But despite several mediation attempts, which have included dozens of leaders from around the world, little progress has been made towards a resolution over the past three months.

Donald Trump called Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, on Tuesday “to discuss efforts to resolve the ongoing dispute with Qatar”.

The White House said the call “underscored the importance of unity among United States partners in the region”, showing Washington’s desire to patch the worst row the GCC has experienced.

In a report released on yesterday, rating agency Moody’s said the three-month dispute had created uncertainty across the Arabian Gulf region and could negatively affect the credit outlook of all the countries involved.

The crisis has caused Qatari imports to fall 40 per cent in June from a year earlier, and 35 per cent in July, Bloomberg reported.