Saudi Arabia,UAE,Egypt,Bahrain break diplomatic ties with Qatar over 'terrorism'

[Syt]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gulf-qatar-turkey-saudi-idUSKBN19D0CX

Turkey sends Qatar food and soldiers, discusses Gulf tensions with Saudi

Turkey sent its first ship carrying food aid to Qatar and dispatched a small contingent of soldiers and armored vehicles there on Thursday, while President Tayyip Erdogan spoke with Saudi Arabia's leaders on calming tension in the region.

Turkey has backed Qatar after Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other Arab states cut all economic and diplomatic ties this month, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism, a charge it denies.

But Ankara, which has long tried to play the role of regional mediator, is also wary of upsetting its other allies, including Saudi Arabia. Turkey fast-tracked legislation on June 7 to allow more troops to be deployed to a military base in Qatar that houses Turkish soldiers under an agreement signed in 2014.

Five armored vehicles and 23 military personnel arrived in Doha on Thursday as part of the new deployment plans, Turkey's armed forces said in a statement, adding that the move was in the framework of legal measures regarding military training and cooperation between the two countries.

Some 88 Turkish soldiers were already in Qatar, according to the Hurriyet newspaper.

After the deployment, a joint exercise by Turkish and Qatari forces was expected following the Islamic Eid al-Fitr holiday, Hurriyet said. The number of Turkish soldiers sent to the Gulf state could eventually reach 1,000, it said, adding that an air force contingent was also envisaged.

The first Turkish ship carrying some 4,000 tonnes of dry food supplies, fruit and vegetables set off from a port in western Turkey's Izmir province at dawn on Thursday, state-run Anadolu news agency said. It cited the head of the logistics company delivering the supplies as saying it was expected to arrive in Doha in around 10 days.

Though Turkey has sent 105 cargo planes of supplies, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said on Wednesday that it was not sustainable to maintain aid supplies through an air lift.

REGIONAL TIES

In supporting Qatar, Turkey was not trying to threaten anyone, Erdogan's spokesman said.

"We don't want any sort of tension with any Gulf state. We would also not want any of them to be in a row with each other. This has been our approach to this crisis since the beginning," Ibrahim Kalin told reporters on Thursday.

"In other words, if two of your friends, two neighbors are disagreeing with each other and if there is something you can do about this, it is perfectly natural to go into action."

Sources from Erdogan's office said the president spoke by phone overnight with Saudi Arabia's King Salman and new crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, congratulating the latter on his promotion.

"Agreement was reached on increasing efforts toward ending tension in the region related to Qatar," the sources said in a statement regarding the phone calls on Thursday. Erdogan and King Salman agreed to hold face-to-face talks at the G20 meeting in Hamburg next month, the sources said.

King Salman made his son next in line to the throne on Wednesday, handing the 31-year-old sweeping powers as the kingdom seeks a radical overhaul of its oil-dependent economy and faces mounting tensions with regional rival Iran.

[CountDeMoney]

I hope they're not, like, using any NATO stuff from the NATO account, what with them owing NATO.

[Razgovory]

One of the most interesting things is that this shows just how much the world needs the US.  The US doesn't have a functioning president for five months and our allies are ready to go to war with each other.

[Tamas]

One of the most interesting things is that this shows just how much the world needs the US.  The US doesn't have a functioning president for five months and our allies are ready to go to war with each other.

For the past 20 years or so I have been telling people who complained about the US' dominance over the world: when you see it go, you'll regret it.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

One of the most interesting things is that this shows just how much the world needs the US.  The US doesn't have a functioning president for five months and our allies are ready to go to war with each other.

For the past 20 years or so I have been telling people who complained about the US' dominance over the world: when you see it go, you'll regret it.

but do they listen? Of course not

[Ed Anger]

You all can take care of yourselves.

[CountDeMoney]

STFU with that noise, asschimp.  They can't.  We have the piles of dead Germans to prove it.

[Ed Anger]

They don't deserve us.

[CountDeMoney]

It's not about them.

[Jacob]

They don't deserve us.

We don't.

The thing is, when things go tits up for real you'll realize - too late - how good you had to too.

[Ed Anger]

I'll be eating my Spam sandwiches while the world burns.

[grumbler]

I'll be eating my Spam sandwiches while the world burns.

So that's what the guy was talking about when he claimed that the living would envy the dead. 

[Ed Anger]

Good thing I didn't mention the Potted Meat.

[Ancient Demon]

Relax guys, I'm sure China's ready to take up the reins of world leadership.

[Syt]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/25/erdogan-rejects-saudi-demand-to-pull-turkish-troops-out-of-qatar

Erdoğan rejects Saudi demand to pull Turkish troops out of Qatar

Turkey's president condemns request as a 'very ugly approach' and dismisses other demands made of Qatar by Gulf states

Turkey's president has described as disrespectful a demand by Saudi Arabia and its allies that it withdraw its troops from Qatar as a step towards ending a deepening dispute with the besieged Gulf state.

Two days after the demand was made, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan instead reiterated his support for Qatar and described the 13 demands levelled at the Gulf country as preconditions to restore relations as being "against international law".

"To ask Turkey to pull out its troops from Qatar is firstly disrespectful behaviour towards us," he said in Istanbul on the first day of a three-day holiday to mark the end of Ramadan. "We don't need permission from anyone to establish military bases among partners. We endorse and appreciate Qatar's stance towards the 13 demands. It's a very, very ugly approach to try to interfere with our agreement."

Sharply escalating the worst diplomatic crisis among Gulf allies in decades, the Saudi led-alliance on Friday gave Qatar 10 days to comply with a list of demands, which included closing the state-funded broadcasting network, al-Jazeera, scaling back contact with Iran, removing Turkish troops from its soil and severing ties with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Qatar has said it will not comply with the demands, and Erdoğan's endorsement appeared to entrench Doha's position – setting the scene for a showdown on 3 July.

Saudi Arabia has not spelled out what it intends to do if the tiny nation refuses to align its foreign policy with that of its powerful neighbour and its allies. Riyadh and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have already imposed a land, sea and air blockade of Qatar, strangling trade and forcing food shortages. The Saudi stance has become gradually more pointed, with senior ministers across the region accusing the Qatari ruling family of licensing the support of terrorism for decades.

Speaking in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, the UAE minister of state for foreign affairs, Dr Anwar Gargash, said the alternative to agreeing to terms with its neighbours would be "parting ways".

"Is Qatar ready for a new life without ties to KSA [Saudi Arabia], UAE and Bahrain? For a policy isolating it from its environment for the sake of supporting extremism?" he asked.

"To prefer a partisan extremist agenda and spend huge sums on that agenda and jihadist groups? After anger will come wisdom."

Addressing Turkey's involvement in Qatar, which stemmed from a bilateral defence agreement made in 2014 and ratified recently, Gargash said: "The Turks left Qatar over a century ago and now have returned. They have big interests in the region and we hope Turkey's priority will be its interests and not its ideology. But 1,000 or 2,000 Turkish troops show lack of confidence from Qatari government in its stability. Stability will come from integration with the neighbourhood."

The UK's foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, on Friday appeared to suggest that the demands levelled are unreasonable. "Gulf unity can only be restored when all countries involved are willing to discuss terms that are measured and realistic," he said. "The UK calls upon the Gulf states to find a way of de-escalating the situation and lifting the current embargo and restrictions, which are having an impact on the everyday lives of people in the region."

The Saudi-led boycott, which enlisted other GCC states and Egypt to isolate Qatar, was imposed several weeks after the high-profile visit to Riyadh by the US president, Donald Trump, during which he re-prioritised the kingdom over its main regional rival, Iran – the regional clout of which had risen after the Obama administration brokered a nuclear deal with Tehran.

Ever since, Riyadh has moved to enforce its newfound standing. Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood are seen by Saudi leaders and their allies as subversive threats. Doha has maintained a close relationship with the Brotherhood and had enjoyed warming ties with Iran.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement on Sunday that some of the demands on Qatar "will be very difficult to meet", but did not reject them outright.

He called on Qatar and the other Arab countries to "sit together" to work through the list. Tillerson had previously insisted any demands be "reasonable and actionable."