Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived Monday in Qatar from Kuwait on the last leg of a Persian Gulf tour that also included Saudi Arabia.
He is scheduled to hold talks with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on the Arab crisis and bilateral relations, Anadolu reported.
The Turkish leader is accompanied by a high-profile delegation that includes Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu,.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Qatar and presented a list of demands to Doha to end the siege, including the closure of the Al Jazeera television network and Turkish base in Doha, or face further sanctions.
Erdogan had held talks with leaders of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as part of his efforts to solve the Arab crisis on Sunday.
Saudi King Salman and Erdogan discussed “efforts to combat terrorism and its sources of funding”, the Saudi press agency reported, without elaborating.
Erdogan arrived in Kuwait in the evening and left the country after a short stop.
Under a 2014 agreement, Ankara maintains a military base in Qatar which is set to eventually host as many as 1,000 troops.
The two countries also maintain ideological ties, as Erdogan’s party has Islamist roots and Doha is a main backer of the Muslim Brotherhood, which its Arab opponents deem a terrorist organization.
Sheikh Tamim said in his first public comments on the dispute late Friday that Qatar is prepared to engage in dialogue, but that any resolution to the crisis must respect its sovereignty and that any terms cannot be dictated from outside.
Doha denies the accusation of terrorism and contends the blockade is a violation of international law.
Caption: Recep Tayyip Erdogan
