Turkey flexing military muscle in Qatar
Turkey is signaling a shift to "hard power" foreign policy by incrementally building its military presence in Qatar to a brigade-level force.
One of the key agenda items during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s July 23-24 visits to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar is Turkey’s continued military presence in Qatar. A Saudi-led coalition of Arab countries that cut ties with Qatar in early June is demanding, among a dozen other things, that Turkey close its base there.
Doha and Ankara firmly rejected the demand as “infringement of sovereign rights.” Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in his July 21 address to the nation, praised Turkey’s stand in the Gulf crisis, saying, “We express our gratitude to Turkey for rapidly implementing our cooperation agreement and meeting our basic needs.”
Qatar is suffering under sanctions by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt, which have restricted Qatar by air, land and sea, charging that the country supports terrorists, which Qatar denies.
In my June 12 Al-Monitor article, “Turkish military will protect Qatari regime if necessary,” I emphasized that for Erdogan, the survival of the Qatari regime and the personal fate of Al Thani — who had given Erdogan the strongest support against a failed military uprising a year ago — are vital matters. This is one reason why Ankara is determined to expand its military-strategic partnership with Qatar.
