ISTANBUL: Days after its parliament ratified the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, Turkiye has entered into another mutual defence pact with Qatar, further deepening their military ties.
The agreement was among five signed as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who travelled to Istanbul after attending the UN climate conference in Antalya, at the Presidential Dolmabahce Office.
‘A mutual defence agreement signed by Turkiye and Qatar today will add a new dimension to the brotherly ties between the two countries,’ a statement from his office quoted Erdogan as saying.
While details of the agreement were not released, Erdogan said the two countries would continue working together ‘to prevent a renewed outbreak of war in the Gulf region and to promote dialogue and peace’.Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and the head of the National Intelligence Organisation Ibrahim Kalin were also present at the meeting, which was held behind closed doors, TRT Haber reported.
In the meeting, Erdogan also stressed the importance of persuading parties in the region to resolve their differences through diplomacy.
The statement cited him as saying that Turkiye and Qatar were working to develop and diversify their energy partnership, and that their cooperation in the defence industry would continue to grow.
Turkiye is striving to develop and diversify its partnership with Qatar in the energy sector, and that cooperation in the defence industry will also continue to increase, Turkish state outlet TRT Haber quoted him as saying.
In a post on X following the meeting, Sheikh Tamim said thestrategic partnership between Qatar and Turkiye continued to develop across various fields.
During the meeting between Erdogan and Sheikh Tamim, the Israeli attacks on Gaza and the humanitarian situation in the region, the normalisation steps in Syria, and the latest developments in Libya were also discussed.
In addition, four other agreements covering trade, education, diplomacy were also signed on the occasion of the 12th Meeting of the Turkiye-Qatar High Strategic Committee.
These included an MoU on ‘Cooperation in the Fields of Consumer Protection, Market Surveillance and Control’, an agreement on ‘Cooperation in the Field of Education’, an MoU on ‘Cooperation in Peace, Reconciliation and Conflict Resolution’ and the ‘Joint Declaration of the Twelfth Meeting of the High Strategic Committee’.
According to Middle East Eye, Turkiye and Qatar have had several defence agreements since 2017, including the hosting of Turkish troops in Doha, but the new deal obliges both countries to come to the other’s defence.
President Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif signed the Makkahdefence pact on Aug 7.
Under the agreement, an attack on one party constitutes an attack on all.
Alongside the Makkah alliance, Turkiye is also a member of the Nato military alliance and maintains the second largest standing army in the bloc after the United States.
In addition, Turkiye, Qatar, Pakistan, and Indonesia signed an agreement on Oct 21 to boost defence cooperation and strengthen defensive capabilities, named the ‘Badr’ accord.-Agencies / Monitoring Desk