Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan waded into the diplomatic crisis gripping Qatar and four other Arab nations on Sunday, traveling to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as part of a three-country Persian Gulf tour aimed at helping break the impasse.
Erdogan is the fifth high-level visitor from outside the Gulf to try to resolve the dispute since it began on June 5.
The top diplomats of Britain, France, Germany and the US have all been through already, underscoring the depth of concern the crisis is causing well beyond the region.
Photo: AFP
Erdogan faces a tougher challenge in securing a breakthrough than Turkey’s NATO allies because of the increasingly warm ties — including the deployment of military forces — it has built with Qatar.
While members of the anti-Qatar quartet — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain — have strong trade links with Turkey, its closeness to Qatar raises suspicions of its motives for them.
Turkey and Qatar announced plans to open Turkey’s first military base in the Persian Gulf in 2015. The base opened last year and new troops have arrived since the Gulf rift erupted, raising fears of an escalation with the nations seeking to isolate it.
Fellow Gulf country Kuwait has attempted to mediate the dispute, so far without success.
Erdogan met with Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed Al Sabah upon arrival in the country on Sunday evening.
Erdogan began his trip earlier in the day in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf’s political and economic heavyweight.
During his visit to the Red Sea city of Jeddah, he held talks with Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his presumed heir, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Brief statements of both meetings carried by the official Saudi Press Agency emphasized that the talks focused on ways to counter terrorism in addition to touching on bilateral and regional issues.
Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani late on Friday said in his first public comments on the dispute that Qatar is prepared to engage in dialogue, but that any resolution to the crisis must respect its sovereignty and that any terms cannot be dictated from outside.
He also reiterated his nation’s commitment to fighting terrorism.
The anti-Qatar quartet has shown little sign of backing down.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Relations Anwar al-Gargash responded to the emir’s speech on Twitter, saying that while dialogue is necessary, Qatar must review its policies because repeating its positions only “deepens the crisis.”
However, British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Boris Johnson welcomed the Qatari leader’s comments and said his country would continue to work toward finding a solution.
“We hope that in turn Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Bahrain respond by taking steps towards lifting the embargo. This will allow substantive discussions on remaining differences to begin,” Johnson said in a statement on Sunday.
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