Turkey has sent a military delegation to support Qatar in the growing Middle East diplomatic crisis and said troops will follow, according to local reports.
CNN Turkey announced yesterday that a team was in the Gulf state "to conduct reconnaissance". Turkey had planned to increase military numbers in Qatar before the spat but MPs fast-tracked the measures last week.
It is not known how many troops will be deployed or exactly when.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Libya and Yemen severed ties with Qatar last week, triggering a regional diplomatic crisis.
Riyadh alleges that Qatar funds terrorism and fuels unrest in the Gulf. Qatar denies the claims.
Why is Turkey getting involved?
"Turkey and Qatar have both provided support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and backed rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, says Reuters.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday denounced the isolation of Qatar as "inhumane and against Islamic values" and called on Saudi Arabia to urgently resolve the dispute.
A senior official from the UEA accused Doha of escalating the row by seeking help from Turkey and Iran, which has pledged to offer food and water supplies after transport links into Qatar were cut.
"The request for political protection from two non-Arab countries and military protection from one of them could be a new tragic and comic chapter," said UAE foreign minister Anwar Gargash.
However, some analysts warn not to read Turkey's decision as "picking a side", says the state-funded Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera.
Atilla Yesilada, political analyst with Istanbul's Global Source Partners, said: "Turkey's military base in Qatar has always been, and still is, a symbolic gesture and nothing more.
"While Turkey values its partnership with Qatar and does not approve the foreign policy vision Saudi Arabia is trying to enforce on the small but influential emirate, it is also not willing to - and cannot afford to - pick a fight with Riyadh."
-
Political cartoons for October 21Cartoons Tuesday’s political cartoons include a high-profile theft, Epstein files keeping Donald Trump up at night, Halloween costumes and scary GOP stories
-
Five things we learnt from Virginia Giuffre’s memoirThe Explainer Nobody’s Girl recounts ‘harrowing’ details of Giuffre’s suffering as a teenage victim of Jeffrey Epstein and his circle
-
Prince Andrew: a timeline of disgraced royal’s Epstein scandalIn Depth How the Queen’s favourite child went from Falklands War hero to public pariah
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
Has Israel’s Qatar strike scuppered a ceasefire?Today’s Big Question Netanyahu ‘gambles’ on ‘overwhelming strength’ rather than diplomacy in attack on Hamas negotiation team in Doha
-
Israel targets Hamas leaders in Qatar airstrikeSpeed Read Hamas said five low-level leaders were killed in the attack
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
