Turkey, Qatar sign 15 agreements to boost bilateral cooperation

ANKARA

Turkey and Qatar Dec. 7 signed 15 agreements, including in various fields such as military, health, tourism, and education, to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries during a visit of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Doha.

Erdoğan and the ruling emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, chaired the seventh meeting of the Turkey-Qatar Supreme Strategic Committee.

Also, the governors of the Qatari Central Bank and Turkey’s Central bank had a meeting in Doha.

After the meeting of the two leaders, several agreements on the fields of trade, investment, development, culture, youth, sports, diplomacy, health, religious affairs and media cooperation were signed.

A Memorandum of Understanding between the interior ministries, Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) and the General Directorate of Civil Defense of the Ministry of Interior of the State of Qatar on the “Field of Disaster and Emergency Management” and a protocol for the implementation of the letter of intent between the Turkish and Qatari governments on “Cooperation in the Fulfillment of Large-scale Organizations” were signed by Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and Qatari Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammed bin Abdurrahman Al Thani signed a letter of intent to establish institutional cooperation between the “Antalya Diplomacy Forum and Doha Forum,” Memorandum of Understanding on “Cooperation in the Field of Protocol” and “Joint Statement of the Seventh Meeting of the High Strategic Committee.”

A Memorandum of Understanding Between KOSGEB and the Qatar Development Bank and Memorandum of Understanding between Turkish Standards Institute and Qatar General Standardization Organization in the Field of Standardization Implementation Program was signed by Trade Minister Mehmet Muş and Qatari Finance Minister Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari.

The “Second Implementation Program in the Field of Culture for the Years 2022-2023” and the “First Implementation Program in the Field of Youth and Sports for the Years 2022-2023-2024” between the Turkish and Qatari governments was signed between Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry and the Culture and Sports Ministry of Qatar by Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy and Qatari Culture and Sports Minister Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Hamad Al Thani.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca and Public Health Minister Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari signed the Implementation Program on “Cooperation in the Fields of Health and Medical Sciences” between Turkey and Qatar.

Presidency of Religious Affairs chair Ali Erbaş and Foundations and Islamic Affairs Minister Ghanem bin Shaheen Al Ghanim signed the Memorandum of Understanding on “Cooperation in the Fields of Foundations and Islamic Affairs.”

The Memorandum of Understanding between the Presidency Investment Office and the Qatar Businesspeople Association was signed by Ahmet Burak Dağlıoğlu, president of the Presidential Investment Office, and Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, president of the Qatar Businesspeople Association.

The Academic Cooperation Agreement between Fatih Sultan Mehmet University and Qatar Debate, and the Cooperation Agreement between Ibn Haldun University and Qatar University will also be signed in Doha.

“As Turkey, we are in favor of continuing our cooperation, solidarity and further relations with all Gulf countries by getting stronger,” Erdoğan said at a press conference before departing to Qatar.

Turkey had backed Doha in the Gulf crisis that erupted in June 2017 when Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain cut diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar.

Turkey and Qatar also had close cooperation on the Syrian crisis and now have been in talks for support to Afghanistan.

In a joint press conference with Çavuşoğlu on Dec. 6, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Qatar will work with its ally Turkey and Taliban officials to ensure security at Kabul’s international airport.