Turkey will ‘not abandon its Qatari brothers’ in Gulf crisis – Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday vowed that Turkey will "not abandon its Qatari brothers" and called for an end to the diplomatic crisis in the Gulf before the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

"There are those who are uncomfortable with us standing by our Qatari brothers, providing them with food, exporting food and medical supplies to them. I am sorry, we will continue to give every kind of support to Qatar,” said Erdogan.

A group of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Qatar earlier this week, alleging that it supports terrorism. But Turkey has sided with Doha in the crisis.

On Friday, President Erdogan vowed to keep supporting Qatar after his approval of legislation on deploying Turkish troops to the Gulf state. Turkey's military base in Qatar is currently home to around 90 soldiers, a presence authorities said helps ensure the country's security.

(CGTN)