Turkey building new military base in Qatar
Ankara is expected to
inaugurate a new Turkish military base in Qatar in autumn, according to a Turkey’s
pro-government Hurriyet daily news report.
The report says that the opening ceremony is expected to be attended by
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan.
“The military base in Qatar is getting bigger. A new base has been built
near the Tariq Bin Ziyad military base,” the report said. Turkish soldiers have
been deployed at Tariq Bin Ziyad military base since October 2015.
The report added that the number of soldiers will increase without disclosing
their numbers out of consideration of “Turkey’s interests and security”.
“I can say that it
will reach a drastic figure. Qatar also attaches a great deal of importance to
this military base,” she revealed.
Ankara and Doha
formed a higher strategic committee in 2015 in order to bolster their relations.
Qatar had also
resorted to Turkish security support after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt launched a boycott of Doha in 2017 for its
continued support for extremist groups.
After the boycott,
Ankara has boosted its presence at the Qatari base that can host some 3,000
soldiers.