Turkey calls on Saudi Arabia to respect Turkish base in Qatar

ANKARA

Turkey and Qatar signed a military cooperation agreement that allows the former to establish a base on Qatari soil in line with their sovereign rights, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said, calling on Saudi Arabia to respect the bilateral deal and to correct the mistake of requesting the closure of the base. 

“This is an agreement signed by two sovereign states. This is an issue between two sovereign countries and it’s none of the business of others except for respecting to it. I told this openly to my brother, Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Adil [al-Jubeyir], on the phone last night,” Çavuşoğlu told reporters on June 25 in Antalya. 

Çavuşoğlu conducted a phone conversation with al-Jubeyir and Qatari Foreign Minister Abdurrahman al-Thani late on June 24 after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates reportedly called on Qatar to close the Turkish base among other conditions for the normalization of ties. 

“[Adil al-Jubeyir] tried to make some explanations, but this request is not right. I hope these kinds of mistakes will be corrected,” he said, expressing his wishes for a quick resolution of the crisis between Qatar and other Gulf countries.  

“We’ll continue to contribute to resolve this problem, and we’ll continue to underline rights and wrongs. Turkey’s duty and responsibility is to openly voice all these rights and wrongs,” he said.