Politics
11:51, 07-Jul-2017
What is Turkey's role in the Qatar crisis and will Qatar accept the 13 demands?
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By CGTN's The Point
Turkey is a crucial balancing factor in the five-week Saudi Arabian-led blockade of Qatar but risks suffering long-term consequences in the region, experts have argued, adding that Qatar’s own situation is far from desperate.
“Qatar is at the moment trying to get Turkey as a balancing factor in this conflict... (and) the fact is that Turkey is there and has taken sides with Qatar, providing food and... politically and strategically standing with Qatar,” Huseyin Bagci, from the Middle East Technical University, told CGTN’s The Point.
He warned however that this decision could prove damaging for Ankara. “From an ethical point of view, Turkey is doing right, but politically and strategically, Turkey is doing wrong," he argued, noting that by siding with Qatar, Turkey was going up against Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE, all of which are important economic partners.
This will likely lead to "cool relations with those countries and if this conflict is somehow resolved, Turkey will be the country which will be criticized more strongly," Bagci predicted.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Qatar in early June, accusing it of supporting terrorist groups. They later issued Doha with a list of 13 demands to end the standoff, including ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood, closing Al-Jazeera, downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran and shutting down a Turkish military base in the emirate.
Still, Qatar has shown no signs of giving in and has actually indicated it can survive very well despite the blockade, according to Luciano Zaccara, assistant professor at Qatar University.
Doha’s announcement this week that it planned to boost liquefied natural gas production, was “a message... that Qatar is ready to continue their normal life.“ “What Qatar is saying is that... we don't have any needs, we don't have any problems in supplies and our economy is not being affected by this blockade,” said Zaccara.
"The message from Qatar to the rest of the countries is that... we can continue this blockade long-term, we have no problem. We have allies, we have Turkey, we have other states and most importantly, the international community is not supporting this blockade."
The Point with Liu Xin is a 30-minute current affairs program on CGTN. It airs weekdays at 9.30 p.m. BJT (1330 GMT), with rebroadcasts at 5.30 a.m. (2130 GMT) and 10.30 a.m (0230 GMT).
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