Ankara: Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will try his hand at mediating the Gulf crisis with visits to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, even as his country entrenches its military presence on Qatari soil.
Defence Minister Fikri Isik said Erdogan is slated to visit on July 23-24. “On the other hand, we are saying that primarily Saudi Arabia and all other countries should sit down at a table and solve this through peaceful dialogue. To that end, Turkey is ready to make any contribution.”
Erdogan is stepping into the mediator’s role after efforts by Kuwait’s ruler and the US secretary of state failed — and as his country builds up a military base in Qatar in defiance of the Saudi-led bloc boycotting the gas-rich nation.
Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Bahrain on June 5 severed diplomatic and commercial ties with Qatar over its support to terrorism. The Arab bloc gave a list of 13 demands for Qatar to comply. Closure of the Turkish base is one of the demands. The bloc also wants the Doha to sever ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, cool relations with Iran and stop funding Sunni and Shiite terrorist groups.
