Turkey should not interfere in the feud between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours | World Defense

Turkey should not interfere in the feud between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours

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Turkey’s position on Gulf crisis

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Yasar Yakis | Published — Monday 12 June 2017

Arab Gulf states accused Qatar of supporting armed groups and their regional rivals, and on June 4 imposed heavy sanctions, including closing land and sea borders, canceling flights to and from Qatar, and withdrawing their ambassadors from Doha.

The US, which is a security provider and main actor in Qatar, gave mixed signals. President Donald Trump posted a tweet that may be considered the trigger of the crisis, writing: “During my recent trip to the Middle East (on May 21) I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar.”

But Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis on June 6 praised Qatar for its “enduring commitment to regional security” and for hosting US forces. The largest US air base in the Middle East is in Qatar, and 10,000 military personnel are stationed there.

While the Pentagon insists that the blockade has no effect on the US fight against Daesh, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said it is hindering US military action in the region and the campaign against Daesh. He urged Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries to ease the blockade, saying it has caused unintended consequences.

“Qatar has a history of supporting groups across a wide political spectrum, including those that engage in violence,” he added. “The emir of Qatar had made progress in halting financial support for terrorism but he must do more and he must do it more quickly.”

About an hour after Tillerson’s press conference, Trump clarified the US approach by saying: “The nation of Qatar, unfortunately, has historically been a funder of terrorism and at a very high level.” Now that the president has reconfirmed his position, neither the State Department nor the Pentagon are expected to deviate from it.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain point out that this is not the first time their policies diverge from that of Qatar. In March 2014, when Qatar supported then-Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement, these three countries withdrew their ambassadors from Doha.

They resumed their posts eight months later when some Brotherhood members were forced by Qatar to leave the country and some others were quieted. It remains to be seen how long it will take this time, since Qatar is blockaded by sea and land and is being asked to fulfil more conditions.

Though Erdogan takes many of his initiatives in his capacity as the sessional chairman of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), his interlocutors will be listening to him as Turkey’s president. So Ankara should take the utmost care not to take sides in this sensitive controversy.

Yasar Yakis

Ankara cooperated with Doha in Syria by supporting similar opposition factions, though not always the same ones. In addition, unlike Qatar, Turkey does not support Hezbollah, and when a Hamas office operating in Istanbul had to quit Turkey as part of the latter’s reconciliation with Israel, the Turkish press reported that the office moved to Qatar.

Turkey has close economic ties with Qatar, and the latter’s investments in the former amount to about $18 billion. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took the initiative to defuse inter-Gulf tensions. He had telephone conversations with many leaders, including those of Qatar, Russia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and France.

On June 7, Turkey’s Parliament fast-tracked a bill to deploy 500 troops to Qatar, in addition to 150 who have been there since 2015. Turkey is constructing a base in Qatar that will accommodate 10,000 troops when completed.

A second fast-tracked bill provides for Turkish training of the Qatari gendarmerie. Turkish opposition parties criticized these moves, saying they send a wrong message to the international community and should be postponed until the situation stabilizes.

Turkey maintains good relations with most Gulf countries, but this crisis has to be regarded as an intra-Arab affair. Non-Gulf countries, more specifically non-Arab countries, should not interfere in it.

Though Erdogan takes many of his initiatives in his capacity as the sessional chairman of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), his interlocutors will be listening to him as Turkey’s president. So Ankara should take the utmost care not to take sides in this sensitive controversy.

Arab countries, with their customary prudence and wisdom, will find ways to sort out the problem sooner or later. When they do they will be reconciled, but the bias of non-Arab countries will not be forgotten.

• Yasar Yakis is a former foreign minister of Turkey and founding member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
 

Lieutenant

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The Muslim Brotherhood have been put into the list of terror organizations I hope Turkey doesn't sacrifices its reputation for the sake of them.
 

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The Muslim Brotherhood have been put into the list of terror organizations I hope Turkey doesn't sacrifices its reputation for the sake of them.

Erdogan will not let go of MB.
 

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Erdogan will not let go of MB.

Erdogan is the supporter and the funder of MB along with Qatar how could they let go to their destructive puppets in there region. Sad to see Turkey went this way.
 

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Wasnt it you guys all cheering for Erdogan when we were all against him?
Didnt we discus this MB bs?
 

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Wasnt it you guys all cheering for Erdogan when we were all against him?
Didnt we discus this MB bs?

Erdogan has done great things to Turkey especially when it comes to economic development and growth and I give him credit for that. However, his political support to the MB is wrong and that should be pointed out. Most countries in the region have taken a strong turn against MB due to their immaturity and destructive role since its creation and I wish Erdogan was to set with his counterparts and discuss whatever concerns instead of taking a side. Qatar has done many things that affected GCC unity and violated 2014 agreement. Now some GCC and Arab states have decided to boycott Qatar and I don't know why Erdogan is not happy with that at all although that doesn't hurt Turkey in any way form or shape. He should have picked a book on history and read what and how MB was created what is their ideology and ambition. The worst thing is that politicalizing religion which is very destructive in my humble opinion. How can Erdogan sacrifices Turkey's strong and cordial relations with important regional states like that of Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt. That is I don't understand and I will leave it to you to give us your 2cent.
 

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Wasnt it you guys all cheering for Erdogan when we were all against him?
Didnt we discus this MB bs?

We never cheered for Erdogan support to the MB at all man. We agreed with some of his policy regarding issues involving Syria but never to the MB never.
 

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Erdogan has done great things to Turkey especially when it comes to economic development and growth and I give him credit for that. However, his political support to the MB is wrong and that should be pointed out. Most countries in the region have taken a strong turn against MB due to their immaturity and destructive role since its creation and I wish Erdogan was to set with his counterparts and discuss whatever concerns instead of taking a side. Qatar has done many things that affected GCC unity and violated 2014 agreement. Now some GCC and Arab states have decided to boycott Qatar and I don't know why Erdogan is not happy with that at all although that doesn't hurt Turkey in any way form or shape. He should have picked a book on history and read what and how MB was created what is their ideology and ambition. The worst thing is that politicalizing religion which is very destructive in my humble opinion. How can Erdogan sacrifices Turkey's strong and cordial relations with important regional states like that of Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt. That is I don't understand and I will leave it to you to give us your 2cent.
Well,there are many reports showing that the KSA and especially the UAE is somehow involved in anti Turkish sentiment(support for the YPG),this doesnt go well with Turks,another thing is al-Sisi(Erdogan hates him),the ''show'' at the Trumps visit didnt help ,the third and most important reason is that the emir of the UAE has some personal issues with the Thani family,Erdogan knows this and sides with his friends.
We should have stayed out of it,its your problem,you deal with it.
 

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We never cheered for Erdogan support to the MB at all man. We agreed with some of his policy regarding issues involving Syria but never to the MB never.
Come on man,although you knew him being a MB member,you(KSA) supported him,after Morsi,you changed sides.
 

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Well,there are many reports showing that the KSA and especially the UAE is somehow involved in anti Turkish sentiment(support for the YPG),this doesnt go well with Turks,another thing is al-Sisi(Erdogan hates him),the ''show'' at the Trumps visit didnt help ,the third and most important reason is that the emir of the UAE has some personal issues with the Thani family,Erdogan knows this and sides with his friends.
We should have stayed out of it,its your problem,you deal with it.

Saudi Arabia will not support YPG at all and have not in the past supports any separatists movement in the region. Even Arab Ahwaz of Iran have not gotten and support from Saudi Arabia.

You should have mate you should have.
 
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