Analysis: Why is Turkey deploying troops to Qatar?
June 8, 2017
Turkey’s decision is not necessarily anti-Saudi, but it is definitely pro-Qatari, say analysts.
Only two days after Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed diplomatic relations with Qatar for its alleged support of “terrorist organisations”, Turkey’s parliament has ratified military deals allowing its troops to be deployed to a Turkish military base in Qatar. Turkish analysts talking to Al Jazeera interpreted the move as “an apparent show of support for Qatar”.
“This indeed suggests that Turkey sees its defence ties with Qatar as an indispensable pillar of its strategic posture in the region,” Can Kasapoglu, a defence analyst from Turkey’s EDAM, told Al Jazeera. “It also shows that Ankara would not drastically alter its long-term vision for regional fluctuations.”
“Turkey has had a base and soldiers in Qatar for a while,” Kadir Ustun, the executive director of the SETA Foundation in Washington, DC, explained. “Increasing Turkish presence there at this point might be an attempt to reassure Qatar.”
Turkey set up a military base in Qatar, its first such installation in the Middle East, as part of an agreement signed in 2014. The base, which has a capacity to accommodate up to 5,000 troops, already hosts 200 Turkish soldiers.
Late on Wednesday, two deals were ratified in Turkey’s parliament; one allowing Turkish troops to be deployed in Qatar and another approving an accord between the two countries on military training cooperation.
Both agreements, which were drawn up before the spat between Qatar and its neighbours erupted, were brought to parliament by MPs from Turkey’s governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) in an extraordinary session.
