Turkey urges dialogue to Gulf countries to resolve crisis

ANKARA

Ankara has urged dialogue and continued contacts between Gulf countries in a bid to resolve the unprecedented crisis that emerged after Saudia Arabia and prominent Arab countries cut off ties with Qatar on June 5, while expressing Turkey’s “sadness” over the incident. 

“Dialogue should be continued under any condition so that problems can be resolved peacefully. We feel saddened by this current picture. We can give all sort of support for the normalization of the situation,” Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said at a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel. 

Çavuşoğlu recalled that Turkey regards the “unity and togetherness” of the Gulf countries as equal to Turkey’s own unity, while underlining the need of solidarity of all regional countries in the fight against terror, radicalism and Islamophobia.  


Turkey ‘ready to do its best’ 

The Foreign Ministry issued a separate statement on the development and expressed Turkey’s “sorrow” over the decision of Saudi Arabia and other leading Arab nations to impose sanctions on Qatar. 

“Turkey, as a responsible actor in its region and as term president of the Organization of Islamic Conference, is ready to do its best for resolving this disagreement between friendly and brotherly countries as soon as possible,” read the statement.

Turkey and Qatar have improved bilateral relations in recent years, including accelerated economic ties, which allowed the former to open a military base in Qatari territories.