13 June, 2017
Turkey's parliament last week approved deploying troops to a Turkish base in Qatar in what was seen as a show of support for its embattled ally. "It's as if a death penalty decision has been imposed on Qatar", Erdoğan said. "Qatar is a country which, like Turkey, has adopted the most resolute stance against Daesh (IS)", said Erdogan. The president has previously spoken by phone with the leaders of Qatar, Russia, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in a bid to ease the row.
"The US sees Hamas as a terror organization, but to the rest of the Arab nations it is a legitimate resistance movement", Al-Thani said during a visit to Russian Federation. Soldiers in an armoured pick-up truck looked out over barbed-wire at sprawling dustland separating Qatar from Saudi Arabia.
King Salman also hosted an Iftar reception in honour of the visiting delegation.
Saudi Arabia has closed Qatar's sole land border and joined other countries in cutting off sea traffic, leading panicked residents to stockpile food. Qatar has denied the allegations. Erdogan added he would hold three-way phone talks on the crisis later Tuesday with French President Emmanuel Macron and Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
Turkey has maintained good relations with Qatar as well as several of its Gulf Arab neighbours.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today slammed the economic and political isolation of Qatar as inhumane and contrary to Islamic values after key Gulf states broke off ties with Ankara's ally.
He said that Qatar has "practically been sentenced to the death penalty" and added that "it is neither humane nor Islamic to attempt to isolate a country's people in every area from food, to drink, to travel, to commerce, to worship".
Iran's Foreign Ministry has urged the Arab nations who have cut ties to Qatar to negotiate an end to the crisis. Oman has stayed out of the conflict.
The UAE, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia have signed the convention.
Pakistan's prime minister and army chief are heading to Saudi Arabia, where they hope to help ease tensions related to the Gulf diplomatic crisis.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is working behind the scenes to help resolve the dispute between Qatar and its Arab neighbors.
Islamabad has longstanding, close ties to Saudi Arabia, but is also involved in recent business ventures in gas-rich Qatar.
"(Qatar) embraces multiple terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at disturbing stability in the region, including the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS (Islamic State) and al-Qaeda, and promotes the message and schemes of these groups through their media constantly", the Saudi state news agency SPA said.
