Turkish PM to visit Qatar next week

ANKARA

DHA photo

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu will pay a two-day visit to Qatar next week, with the Syrian conflict topping the agenda. 

Earlier this month, Davutoğlu held a bilateral meeting with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani when the two participated in a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) hosted in Istanbul. 

In addition to bilateral relations between Turkey and Qatar, Davutoğlu will discuss regional security and stability during his meetings in Qatar on April 27-28, sources from the prime minister’s office said on April 22. 

Qatar and Turkey are increasingly close allies and both have backed rebels trying to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Late last month, having attended a three-day Dimdex defense and security fair in Doha, Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz said a Turkish military base being built in Qatar, the first Turkish military facility in the region, would be ready within two years.

The deal is part of a defense agreement concluded by Qatar and Turkey in late 2014, which allows for agreement in the fields of military training and the deployment of the Turkish armed forces on Qatar’s territory.