Demands made of Qatar are ‘very provocative,’ says German foreign minister

Germany’s foreign minister said on Monday that the demands being made of Qatar by the countries leading the blockade of the small Gulf State are “very provocative.” Sigmar Gabriel made his comments during a seminar in Berlin which was broadcast live on the website of the European Council on Foreign Relations. “It will be difficult for Qatar to comply with all the requests submitted to it,” he suggested.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt, submitted a list of 13 demands to the government in Doha via the State of Kuwait, which is acting as a mediator. One of the demands is for the Turkish military base in Qatar to be closed. Doha described this as “unrealistic, unbalanced, illogical and unfeasible.”

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After the demands were circulated widely in the media, Bahrain’s official news agency finally published them on Saturday evening. Bahrain was thus the first of the boycotting states involved in the crisis to make the demands public.

#QatarGate

Since 5 June, seven Arab countries have cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar; Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, Mauritania and the Comoros accuse the tiny state of “supporting terrorism”. Qatar denies all of the accusations, calling them “false” and “fabrications.” The campaign against it, says Doha, is intended to impose a kind of “tutelage” that will curb its sovereignty and independence.