Qatar and Turkey partner on more than just gas

Qatar and Turkey agreed to establish a strategic cooperation council that would enhance coordination in the Middle East.

The council was decided during the visit to Doha by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, hosted by Qatar’s Emir Tamim. This marked the third visit by Erdogan to Qatar since he became president in August 2014.

“They agreed to set up a supreme strategic cooperation council under the co-chairmanship of His Highness the emir and the Turkish president to discuss means of promoting relations between the two countries and to follow up issues in various fields,” an official statement said on Sept. 15.

Officials said the strategic council would develop cooperation between Ankara and Turkey.
They said all issues would be addressed, including conflicts throughout the region.

Qatar and Turkey have been among the last Middle East supporters of the Brotherhood, outlawed in Egypt and several Gulf Cooperation Council states.

Several Arab states have accused Doha of supporting Islamic rebel campaigns in such countries as Egypt, Libya, Syria and the United Arab Emirates.

Brotherhood sources said Doha has deported several Egyptian Islamists. They said several of the exiled Brotherhood members were welcomed by Turkey.

Qatar was said to host more than 200 Brotherhood and Hamas members, most of them expected to leave by November 2014 for such countries as Malaysia, Tunisia and Turkey.
Erdogan has already said he would welcome the Brotherhood members in Turkey.

Officials said Erdogan and Tamim also discussed Turkish assistance for Qatar’s military and security forces. They said Turkish officials reviewed proposals with Qatari Interior Minister Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa.

Turkey has also pressed Qatar to supply 1.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

“During the session HH the emir and the Turkish president reviewed relations between the two counties and means of developing them,” the statement said. “In addition, they reviewed areas of mutual cooperation at various levels and to develop them for the good of the two peoples.”

Sources close to the matter stressed that if gas and cooperation were on the mind of Turkey and Qatar, it is not all the two states discusses. The Muslim Brotherhood and more particularly the transfer of some of its most high ranking leaders from Doha to Ankara was mulled over.