Turkish president visits Gulf nations to mediate Qatar crisis

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will start a two-day

trip to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar on Sunday, in the latest effort

to resolve the Qatar crisis.

CGTN’s Michal Bardavid

reported though there has been some progress recently, restoring ties

between these Gulf Arab nations remains a difficult task.

Being

a regional mediator has long been a goal of the Turkish government. On

June 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut

economic and diplomatic ties with Qatar over allegations of terrorism

funding and other claims. Initially they had issued 13 demands, but now

the four countries are calling for Qatar to accept six broad principles

to combat terrorism and end acts of provocation. Qatar has denied the

accusations.

Turkey has repeatedly called for

political dialogue and has met with leaders of both sides in the

conflict. During a recent visit to Ankara, Qatari Foreign Minister

Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al Thani stressed parties were eager to end the

crisis. “Qatar maintains its intention to enter a dialogue as long as

it is within the framework of mutual respect for each nation's

sovereignty and respect for international law,” he said.