Erdoğan, Qatar’s emir discuss regional escalation

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has hosted Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in the Turkish capital to discuss the growing regional escalation following Israel’s killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.

Erdoğan and Al Thani had bilateral talks in the presidential compound on Aug. 8 in an unannounced visit of the latter. Apart from bilateral economic and trade issues, the leaders reviewed international and regional developments.

The two men met during a period of heightened regional tension, following Israel's assasination of Haniyeh and a key Hezbollah military leader in Southern Lebanon, which threatened to spread armed conflict throughout the area.

According to a statement by the Communication Directorate, Erdoğan has reiterated that the assassination of Haniyye has made once afaclear that Israel is not seeking peace.

Türkiye and Qatar continue to work for peace and stability in the region, Erdoğan stressed, adding they will increase mutual efforts to this end.

The Turkish President accused Israel of trying to escalate tension and spread the war, calling on the international community to take effective measures to prevent this dangerous trend.

Iran and Hezbollah vowed to retaliate in kind on Israel amid intense diplomatic traffic by the international community to defuse the tension and convince Iran for a calculated response to avoid a further escalation of the military conflict.

Türkiye and Qatar, having both good ties with Hamas and Iran, are in contact with relevant regional and Western powers to this end. Erdoğan and Al Thani discussed ways to deescalate tension and channel all the efforts back to the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Both countries were active in trying to broker a ceasefire but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dragging feet has killed hopes for an immediate truce. Hamas said the killing of Haniyeh, the chief negotiator of the group, has already endangered prospects for an agreement with Israel.

Another issue the two leaders addressed was how Hamas’ policies would be shaped under Yahya Sinwar, the new leader of the group. Sinwar is known to be closer to Iran and there are concerns that leverages of Türkiye and Qatar on Hamas might be less impactful under him.

Türkiye and Qatar enjoy strategic ties and have overlapping views on the regional issues.