Qatar shares ‘similar views’ to Turkiye on regional issues

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani shared on Friday that his country has “similar views” to Turkiye regarding different regional issues, Anadolu Agency reported.

This came during a joint press conference held with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Istanbul following a ministerial meeting to prepare for the 8th meeting of the High Strategic Committee between the two countries.

“The meeting also discussed the latest regional and international developments of joint interest, the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and the role of Turkiye in transporting grain,” Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said.

Meanwhile, the Qatari minister condemned the continuous Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people in the occupied territories.

He also hailed the Algerian declaration to unite the Palestinian factions: “The State of Qatar and Turkiye welcome the Algeria Declaration, which was signed by the various Palestinian factions.”

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The Qatari minister added: “We hope that these results and positive steps will contribute to ending the state of division that greatly affected the Palestinian cause.”

On the Libyan issue, the Qatari minister indicated that the Libyan situation has remained a concern for Qatar and Turkiye, with Tripoli failing to hold elections amid continuous political unrest and escalations between rival parties.

He stressed the importance of Libya’s territorial integrity and the need to: “End the Libyan division and hold elections.”

Sheikh Mohammed commented on the Syrian issue, stating that Qatar and Turkiye exerted efforts to reach a political and peaceful solution to the crises in the country.

“We would like there to be a real political solution to end the suffering of the Syrian people,” he added. In March 2021, Qatar, Turkiye and Russia announced the launch of a “trilateral consultation process” to end Syria’s conflict amidst an apparent deadlock.

During the meeting, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said the ministers also discussed the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and did not want the Iranian nuclear issue to be affected by the “escalation” in Ukraine.

Late on Friday, Turkiye and Qatar signed 11 new agreements during the 8th meeting of their High Strategic Committee in Istanbul, covering areas such as diplomacy, media, culture and disaster and emergency management.

The meeting was co-chaired by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani. Earlier, the leaders held one-on-one talks on bilateral and regional issues.

Tüurkiye and Qatar established the Supreme Strategic Committee in 2014 as a mechanism for high-level dialogue and bilateral cooperation.

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