File photo: Entrance to Dolmabahçe Palace, Istanbul, August 2024. Photo: Julian Lupyan / Wikimedia Commons / CC0, cropped and resized.
Turkey and Qatar signed a mutual defense agreement in Istanbul on Friday, according to statements from the Turkish presidency, the Turkish Communications Directorate and the Qatar News Agency. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, signed it.
The Turkish presidency calls the document a “Mutual Defense Agreement.” The Qatar News Agency describes it as a joint defense agreement aimed at strengthening military cooperation between the two countries. It said the signing took place at Dolmabahçe Palace. Turkey’s presidency said the leaders met at the presidential office at Dolmabahçe.
It was one of five documents signed at the 12th meeting of the Turkey-Qatar High Strategic Committee, according to the Turkish presidency. The others were a memorandum of understanding on consumer protection and market surveillance, an education cooperation agreement, a memorandum on cooperation in peace, reconciliation and conflict resolution, and the committee’s joint statement.
In the Turkish Communications Directorate’s account of the talks, Erdogan said the defense agreement would add another dimension to the two countries’ “brotherhood.” It said he also pointed to a trade and economic partnership agreement that took effect last year, efforts to develop and diversify energy cooperation, and growing defense industry cooperation.
The statement said Erdogan told the Emir that Turkey and Qatar would keep working together to prevent war from reigniting in the Gulf region and to build a basis for dialogue and peace. It quoted him as saying it is important to persuade the parties to resolve their problems through diplomacy. The statement said the leaders also discussed Israel’s attacks on Gaza and the humanitarian situation, Syria’s normalization steps and the latest developments in Libya.
The Qatar News Agency listed Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense Affairs, Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Turkey’s National Defense Minister, Yasar Guler, among the officials at the signing ceremony.
The statements reviewed do not publish the text of the defense agreement or describe its terms, including any obligations between the two countries.
JBizNews Desk | Istanbul
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