Turkish president begins his 2-day Gulf tour

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will begin his two-day tour to the Gulf on Sunday as part of his efforts to resolve the ongoing diplomatic crisis in the region. The visit will include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.

His first stop will be in Jeddah on Sunday during which he will meet Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud and his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud.

Turkey is the fifth country, after Germany, Britain, America and France, to find a way to resolve the ongoing diplomatic crisis. Ankara stressed that Erdogan's visit was not to mediate between the parties, but to support the Kuwaiti efforts.

 Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties and imposed sanctions on Qatar last month, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Doha denies the charges.

Doha sought to derail Kuwaiti mediation by failing to respect diplomatic rules when it published the 13-point list after it was received from Kuwait, bringing the crisis back to the starting point.

Erdogan will then depart for Kuwait and later Qatar, and will meet Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, respectively.

The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Anwar Gargash said that Qatari stands are well known and their recurrence deepens the crisis with the four countries, in response to the televised speech by Sheikh Tamim Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar.

Qatar’s Emir said that Doha is ready for dialogue to resolve a diplomatic crisis with neighboring Gulf countries so long as his country’s sovereignty is respected. 

"The time has come for us to spare the people from the political differences between the governments," Sheikh Tamim said in a televised speech on Friday. He said in his speech that Qatar is fighting terrorism relentlessly and without compromises, and the international community recognises this.

Saudi Foreign Minister, Adel Al-Jubeir, said that his country is ready to open a new page with Qatar in the event that it complies with the demands of countries calling for the fight against terrorism.  He stressed that they believe that the solution should be within the framework of the Gulf Cooperation Council, noting that Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain put forward principles that would like to be applied and agreed by everyone.