TEHRAN – A Turkish diplomat announced that Ankara plans to deploy air andnaval forces to Qatar in addition to ground troops that are alreadystationed in the country.
Fikret Ozer, Turkish ambassador to Qatar, however, declined to state atimeline for the move, as he told reporters in Doha on Wednesday that”According to the agreement signed between Qatar and Turkey in 2014, allground, air, and naval forces will be deployed to Qatar”, Al-Jazeerareported.
Ankara and Doha would determine the “timeline of the construction of thenecessary infrastructure and when these forces will be deployed throughtalks”, he added.
The planned deployment is part of an agreement that also saw Turkey set upa military camp in Qatar.
The first batch of Turkish troops arrived at the Tariq Bin Ziyad militarybase in 2015.
The camp, located South of Doha, is Turkey’s first such installation in theMiddle East and can accommodate up to 5,000 soldiers.
Ozer also declined to disclose the number of Turkish forces currentlystationed in Qatar.
“That information would be disclosed if our Qatari brothers agree to sharethat,” he said, adding that “We are guests here; they are the host”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been a major supporter of Dohasince Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) andEgypt severed diplomatic and trade relations with Qatar in early June 2017.
The four Arab countries accused Doha of supporting “terrorism” andfostering ties with their regional rival Iran, while Qatar denies theaccusations.
Shortly after the diplomatic crisis erupted, Turkey’sparliament fast-tracked the Qatari-Turkish agreement in question along withanother agreement that allows the Turkish military to train Qatari securityforces.
Ankara has also been trying to mediate between the opposing sides to find asolution to the crisis.