Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said that Turkey is a strategic ally of his country, noting that Doha welcomes the contribution to the “bridge the gap” between Ankara and any Gulf country.
This came in an interview with the Qatari minister with the “Al-Jazeera” satellite channel, Thursday, in the first media interview following the announcement of the Gulf reconciliation.
Al-Thani explained during the meeting that “Turkey is a strategic ally of the State of Qatar, and we have with it many areas of cooperation and alliance between us.”
He continued: “With regard to bilateral relations between the countries of the Cooperation Council (Gulf) and other countries, they are in accordance with the sovereign decision of the state and the national interest, and they are not mixed in relations within the Council.”
He added, “The differences between Turkey and some countries in the council may be for bilateral reasons and do not directly concern the State of Qatar.”
He stressed at the same time that “if we are asked to contribute to bridging the gap between Turkey and any country in the council, we welcome that, and this role is in all files.”
In another interview with the British newspaper “Financial Times” Thursday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar said that his country’s relationship with Iran and Turkey will not change after the Gulf reconciliation.
The Turkish-Qatari relations are witnessing a growing development and continuous cooperation at various levels, with the existence of great political harmony and agreement of views on many regional and international issues, especially the Middle East issues.
Since June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia, along with the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, imposed a land, air and sea blockade on Qatar, claiming its support for terrorism, which Doha denied, and considered it an “attempt to undermine its sovereignty and its independent decision.”
However, Kuwait announced Monday that Saudi Arabia and Qatar had agreed to reopen the airspace and the land and sea borders between the two countries, as of “Monday evening,” as well as to address all related issues, in reference to the repercussions of the Gulf crisis.
The day after that, the 41st Gulf Summit was held Tuesday in the city of Al-Ula, northwest of Saudi Arabia, with the participation of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, for the first time in more than 3 years.
