QATAR-TURKEY Supreme Strategic Committee will hold its 6th meeting on November 26 in Turkey during which a number of new agreements are expected to be signed between the two countries. The committee was established in 2014 and ever since it has held five meetings and signed 50 agreements. The relationship between Doha and Ankara is rooted in decades of close religious, cultural and trade ties. In recent years, the two countries have increased bilateral cooperation in various fields including tourism, defence and knowledge sharing. There has been a continuous engagement between the two countries at the highest level since 2014. The trade ties between the two countries have increased tremendously over the past years, and currently more than 500 Turkish companies are operating in Qatar. The total value of the projects undertaken by Turkish contracting companies since 2002 is $18.5bn. Similarly, Qatari investment and the footprint of Qatari companies in Turkey has also increased as currently 179 Qatari firms are engaged in various sectors in Turkey and the Qatari investments in Turkey have risen to $22bn. The volume of bilateral trade has jumped from $340m in 2010 to over $2bn in 2019. The two countries have also worked closely on many issues at the bilateral, regional and international levels for years, and Turkey has also been a strong supporter for Doha’s mediatory role for peaceful resolution of conflicts in the region and elsewhere, Turkish President H E Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who recently visited Doha, to held talks with Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, termed the bilateral cooperation with Qatar a win-win partnership. He said Turkey-Qatar Combined Joint Force Command was a symbol of brotherhood, friendship, solidarity, and sincerity between the two countries, adding that Turkey’s military presence in Qatar was contributing to the stability in the whole region. President Erdogan said Qatar had emerged stronger despite the unjust blockade imposed against it, hoping the crisis is resolved soon. He also said that Turkish people can never forget Qatar’s solidarity with Ankara following the July 15 coup attempt. Turkish Ambassador in Doha, H E Mehmet Mustafa Göksu, said in a recent media interview that the relationship that connects the two countries is strong and strategic, calling for developing innovative strategies to strengthen this partnership in light of the remarkable developments that the bilateral relations have witnessed in recent years. Qatar’s cooperative ties with Turkey have served the cause of peace, justice, and respect for the international law in the region and beyond.
