Turkish security forces start mission for security of World Cup in Qatar

ANKARA

Turkish security forces, accompanied by a naval vessel, have started their mission to help maintain security in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the Defense Ministry said on Nov. 6.

The MİLGEM TCG Burgazada vessel and Turkish Armed Forces elements, including explosives discovery and disposal, bomb search and anti-drone teams, have launched their work as part of the joint task.

The Joint Task Force will be administered from the coordination center, said the statement.

The United States, France, Britain, Italy and Pakistan also provide security assistance for the football tournament which will take place in Qatar from Nov. 20 to Dec. 18.

Türkiye’s parliament on Oct. 5 approved deploying Turkish soldiers to Qatar for six months. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan requested parliamentary approval to deploy troops. Lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its nationalist allies supplied the votes to pass the motion.

Fikri Işık, a ruling AKP legislator and former Turkish defense minister, said the deployment would involve 250 troops.

The troops would be in addition to some 3,000 riot police that Türkiye has said it would send to Qatar to reinforce security during the international football competition.

The Interior Ministry announced that Türkiye would deploy 3,250 Turkish police officers to Qatar. They include 100 special operations police and 50 explosives experts.

The force would be deployed against “various threats and especially terrorism” in Qatar, which expects to host more than 1 million visitors during the monthlong competition, the Turkish president said.

Türkiye has built close ties with Qatar and established a military base there.

With a population of less than 3 million – of which just 380,000 are Qatari nationals – Qatar faces a shortage of personnel as it gears up for the month-long FIFA football tournament.