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Erdogan ratifies legislation to deploy Turkish troops in Qatar

June 9, 2017 at 12:52 pm

Image of President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) in Ankara, Turkey on 1 June 2017 [Kayhan Özer/Anadolu Agency]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ratified parliamentary legislation yesterday allowing the deployment of troops to Qatar. Turkey has had a military base in the Gulf State since April last year.

A statement issued by the president’s press office said that Erdogan ratified two pieces of legislation at the same time. The first allows for the troop deployment, while the second covers cooperation between the security forces of the two countries.

This move comes after seven Arab states severed diplomatic ties with Qatar this week, namely Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, Bahrain, Yemen, Mauritania and Comoros. This is the worst diplomatic crisis in the region in years. While Kuwait and Oman did not cut ties with Doha, Jordan and Djibouti announced that their respective diplomatic representation would be downgraded in the Qatari capital.

Read: Qatar in talks with Turkey and Iran to provide food, water

Image of Turkish soldiers [file photo]

Image of Turkish soldiers [file photo]