Manama: Bahrain has dismissed remarks about the crisis in Qatar attributed to its foreign minister, Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, “as untrue and lacking credibility”.
According to the report, Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview carried by Turkish dailies that the Qatar “siege” did not serve anyone and that Bahrain’s foreign minister had informed him that Bahrain had been affected by it.
The foreign ministry in Manama denied the claim and lashed out at the unprofessional report.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismisses the report about what has been attributed to the minister as totally erroneous and affirms that whoever published it lacked the basic credibility and professionalism required in such sensitive issues. Illogical interpretations or explanations [cannot be tolerated],” the ministry said in a statement.
“The ministry stresses that the position of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt is quite clear towards the Qatari crisis. These four countries are only defending their sovereignty and are not besieging Qatar. In fact, they have protected themselves through exercising one of their sovereign rights and making the decision to sever relations with Qatar.”
The decision was taken after the four countries exhausted all available means to stop Qatar from interfering in their internal affairs and to ensure it honours the pledges it had made, the statement added.
“All the steps taken so far by the Quartet have not affected their peoples or the brotherly people of Qatar.”
Translations of the interview carried by Ihlas News Agency, Sabah, Yeni Safak and other dailies showed there was no reference by the Turkish minister to Bahrain or to Shaikh Khalid.
“We think that problems among brothers should be overcome as soon as possible,” Cavusoglu said.
On June 5, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt severed their diplomatic, trade and travel relations with Qatar, accusing it of supporting extremists and funding terrorism.
The Quartet issued a list of 13 demands, but Qatar rejected them.
Efforts led by Kuwait to mediate between the two sides have so far failed to narrow the gap between them.
The Quartet states have insisted that Doha knew exactly what was required in order to settle the dispute and that it was up to the Qatari authorities to take the necessary steps towards a solution.
The Quartet has made it clear that the solution will be solely from the Gulf, dismissing any attempt to internationalise the issue.
