Turkey aims to speed up process to deploy troops in Qatar

ANKARA, Turkey (Kurdistan24) – The Turkish parliament is expected to fast-track a draft bill on Wednesday to allow its troops to be deployed in Qatar, according to officials from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the nationalist opposition.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan defended Qatar and reaffirmed Turkey would maintain its relationship with “our friends who have supported us in the most difficult moments.”

According to Reuters, lawmakers from Erdogan’s AKP proposed debating two pieces of legislation: allowing Turkish troops to be deployed in Qatar and approving an accord between the two countries on military training cooperation.

Both draft bills, which were written before Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and other nations cut diplomatic ties with Doha on Monday, are expected to be approved by the Ankara Parliament later on Wednesday.

A Qatari official, who wished to remain anonymous, said Qatar is also in talks with Iran and Turkey to secure food and water supplies amid concerns of possible shortages.

The move is in line with Erdogan’s recent comments regarding the diplomatic row between Qatar and neighboring Gulf Arab nations.

The Turkish President on Tuesday came out against the isolation of the country, criticizing the sanctions imposed on Doha.

“We do not consider sanctions against Qatar effective,” he said during a meeting with AKP activists.

Turkey set up a military base in Qatar as part of an agreement signed in 2014.

In 2016, Ahmet Davutoglu, then Turkish prime minister, visited the base where 150 troops were already stationed, the Turkish daily Hurriyet reported.

Qatar denied assertions of supporting terrorism, labeling the decision from its neighboring countries to sever ties “unjustified” and with “no basis in fact.”

The accusations made against Qatar and the subsequent reaction from other Gulf states is the largest diplomatic crisis in the region in recent years.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany