News / Persian Gulf

UAE: Turkish base in Qatar source of instability in Persian Gulf

Sunday, 11 October 2020 11:18 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 11 October 2020 11:18 AM ]

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has criticized Turkey's military presence in Qatar, saying the Turkish base in the Arab country destabilizes the Persian Gulf region.

In a post on his Twitter account on Saturday, Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash described as “an emergency” the Turkish military presence in the Persian Gulf.

“It reinforces polarization, and it does not take into account the sovereignty of states and the interests of the [Persian] Gulf countries and its people,” Gargash added.

Turkey has been a major supporter of Qatar since June 2017, when Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE severed diplomatic and trade relations with Doha.

The Saudi-led quartet accused Qatar of supporting terrorism, presented it with a list of demands and gave it an ultimatum to comply with them or face consequences.

Among the demands was that Qatar shut down the Turkish military base and halt military cooperation with Ankara.

Turkey set to open new military base in Qatar: Report

Turkey is reportedly expected to inaugurate a new military base in Qatar in autumn as the two countries forge close ties amid a Saudi-led blockade on Doha.

Doha, however, denied terrorism charges and refused to meet the conditions laid out by the boycotting bloc, stressing that the country would not abandon its independent foreign policy.

Saudi prince calls for boycotting Turkish goods

In another development on Saturday, Saudi businessman Prince Abdulrahman Bin Musa’ad called for boycotting Turkish imports.

The remarks came after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey's army in Qatar helped stabilize the Persian Gulf states.

The prince re-tweeted Erdogan’s comments and wrote, “Therefore, I call for a full popular boycott for the Turkish products in order to protect the stability of Turkish economy and strengthen it.”

Earlier this month, the head of Saudi Arabia’s Chambers of Commerce urged a boycott of Turkish products amid reports that Ankara-Riyadh tensions were hindering the flow of goods between the two countries.

“A boycott of everything Turkish, be it imports, investment or tourism, is the responsibility of every Saudi ‘trader and consumer’, in response to the continued hostility of the Turkish government against our leadership, country and citizens,” Ajlan al-Ajlan tweeted.

Turkish journalist Kateb Oglu predicted that Saudi Arabia will lose out because it cannot acquire alternatives of the same quality with the same low prices.

“Saudi is the loser of this boycott because commercial relations between the two countries are not strong. The total annual Turkish exports are around $176 billion, only six or eight billion to Saudi Arabia,” the journalist tweeted.

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