Qatar to ask Turkey to send more military troops

CAIRO –30June 2017: Doha shall ask Ankara’s government to send more troops to its military base in Qatar, according to what sources told Egypt Today on Thursday.

This request is supposed to be discussed tomorrow during a meeting scheduled to be held between the Turkey Defense Minster FikriIşık, and his Qatari counterpart Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah.“Al Attiyah is going to demand Işık to send about two thousand soldier to Qatar for security issues” the sources added.

Two Turkish military troop regiments have arrived Qatar since June 18 “for military exercise” according to the Qatari state-owned news agency. The regiments were made up of roughly one thousand soldiers, the Turkish air force are expected to join them as well.

Some media outlets considered the sending of Turkish troops to Qatar as a serious challenge to the Arab countries, and that Ankara is taking Doha’s side regarding the ongoing dispute.

Saudi Ambassador to Turkey, Walid bin Abdulkarim Al-Khuraiji said Wednesday that his government hoped that Ankara’s government remains neutral regarding the Qatari-Arab dispute, and not to interfere in the political situation for the favor of any party.

“The foreign powers should know that any kind of interference in the Arab-Qtarai dispute is not going to solve it, in contrast, the situation is going to become more complicated” Al-Khuraiji said in statements to daily Sabah newspaper.

On June 23, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain sent a list of 13 demands to the Qatari government, including closing Al Jazeera television, reducing ties with Iran and closing of a Turkish military base in Qatar.

On Friday the Turkish Defense Minister FikriIşık said that he didn’t understand the Arab formal demand regarding the closing the Turkey military base is Qatar, “the base is training the Qatari soldiers and it exists for the security of Qatar and the region.” Işık added.

Qatar’s relations with several Arab and Gulf States have been strained since May 24, when the Qatari state-run news agency reported Sheikh Tamim Al Thani’s statements regarding Gulf foreign policy with Iran, describing it as “unwise.”
On Monday, June 5, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen decided to cut all diplomatic ties with Qatar for its “continuous support for terrorism,” closing their airspace and seaports to Qatari transportation.

On Tuesday, June 6, Kuwaiti Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad started a tour that included Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar in an attempt to mediate between the three countries.
No official details were published about the results of the meetings; however, according to Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa’s statements to Saudi newspaper Makkah on June 8, Kuwait’s attempts at reconciliation had “failed.”

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