Turkey’s aid to Qatar risk its relations with Arab nations

CAIRO – 12 June, 2017: Turkey sent cargo planes full of milk, yoghurt and poultry to circumvent the potential for any food shortages in the coming weeks, after 13 nations declared cutting diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

#QatarIsNotAlone hashtag was trending on Turkish Twitter as soon as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members — Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the UAE — announced that they are severing diplomatic ties with Doha.

To help prepare its citizens for aid from Turkey, Qatari officials have issued Turkish translation sheets for its nationals and residents Qatar has been working with new suppliers in order to survive the ordeal and keep its food stocked as its relations with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, Bahrain and Maldives deteriorate and the diplomatic row continues.

Not only Turkey that has shown sympathy to the tiny Gulf state, but Iran also has sent five planes full of food to Qatar.

"So far five planes carrying perishable food items such as fruit and vegetables have been sent to Qatar, each carrying around 90 tons of cargo, while another plane will be sent Monday," Iran Air spokesman Shahrokh Noushabadi told AFP.

Turkey is in a bad situation. It has commitments to the alliance with Qatar but does not want to break its ties with the other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and most importantly Saudi Arabia, according to the Globe Post on Sunday.

Observers manifested to several Arab local media that Turkey’s Erdogan called for resolving the Arab-Qatari rift through dialogue and playing as a mediator so that he could escape that dilemma.

However, the certain fact is that Saudi Arabia and other 12 nations that cut ties with Qatar will not tolerate with any country that will support Qatar because this reflects a hostile attitude toward the 13 nations. It is still difficult to predict the consequences of the imbroglio for Turkey.

Placing itself in the same position with Iran in supporting the energy-rich state is not a good situation for Turkey as one of the main reasons for breaking with Qatar was announcing proudly its strong relationship with the Persian Republic.

Arab media cited that Qatar succumbed to the pressure and has urged leaders of Hamas to leave the country. The former head of Hamas Khaled Mashaal has been living in Qatar since 2012.

The organization’s leaders are reportedly moving to Turkey, Malaysia, and Lebanon. If this happens, Turkey will be at an impasse and definitely will cause a strong reaction by Saudi Arabia.