Manama: Qatar has dismissed news reports claiming that its Emiri Special Forces had participated in protecting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the failed coup attempt in July.
A senior official at Qatar's Foreign Ministry Media Office said that the allegations about a highly confidential document issued by the Qatari embassy in Ankara on dispatching Emiri Special Forces in the early hours of the coup attempt at the request of the Turkish president to save his life were "baseless and completely untrue", Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported on Wednesday.
Some news outlets had posted the false news based on a copy of the letter allegedly drafted by the Qatari ambassador to Turkey and addressed to the secretary general of the Qatari foreign ministry.
The letter, poorly written, claimed that following a call from President Erdogan to the ambassador early on July 16 to request members of the Emiri Special Forces as private body guards, a group of 150 members of the elite forces arrived in Ankara on private planes.
They were able to save the life of President Erdogan from two attempts, the bogus letter alleged.
The troops left Ankara on July 19 after the Turkish leader said he was satisfied the coup attempt had failed, it claimed.
The ambassador allegedly said that since the Qatari forces played a significant role in protecting President Erdogan, relations between the two countries were tension-free and Qatar should take benefits from the situation.
Media analysts have been warning that a plethora of false reports and fabricated news have plagued the region and the proliferation of fake but carefully designed websites is making the situation worse.
