Turkish parliament approves deployment of troops at Qatar base

Despite the objection of opposition parties, parliament has approved two military cooperation deals with Qatar
Thursday, 08 June 2017 15:48

The Turkish parliament on Wednesday approved draft legislation allowing the deployment of Turkish troops to a military base in Qatar in light of the ongoing rift between Qatar and other Gulf Arab countries.

Legislators in the ruling party-dominated parliament on Wednesday approved allowing the deployment of Turkish troops to the Turkish base in Qatar as well as a deal for the training of gendarmerie force personnel.

Previously, officials had said as many as 3,000 soldiers could be sent.

The deployment of Turkish soldiers in Qatar will be carried out in accordance with the agreement on cooperation between the two countries in the field of security and training of police officers, signed in 2015.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut off diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing the latter of supporting terrorist organisations and destabilising the situation in the Middle East. They were later joined by Libya, Yemen, the Maldives, Mauritius and Mauritania, with Jordan and Djibouti announcing it will lower the level of diplomatic contacts with Qatar.