Cavusoglu meets Gulf envoys to discuss diplomatic rift

Turkey’s foreign minister on Monday held a joint meeting with ambassadors from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in the capital, Ankara, to discuss a Gulf diplomatic rift, a diplomatic source told Turkey’s state media.

The meeting on Monday comes after Gulf states cut diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar last week over claims that it supports “terrorism” in the region. Qatar strongly denies the charges.

READ MORE: Kuwait: Gulf rift may lead to undesirable consequences

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu raised Turkey’s concerns and expectations from the international community over the crisis, the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media, told Anadolu news agency.

The diplomats’ meeting came three days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan requested the full removal of the Saudi-led blockade on Qatar, saying Riyadh needed to put brotherhood before animosity.

Erdogan said on Saturday isolating Qatar would not resolve any regional problems and vowed to do everything in his power to help end the regional crisis.

READ MORE: Analysis – Why is Turkey deploying troops to Qatar?

Other measures against Qatar, which relies heavily on food imports, included the closing of airspace, land borders and maritime territories

The moves raised fears of a food crisis in Qatar, as most of its supplies come from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

But the shortages have eased with Turkey and Iran shipping in meat, fruit and vegetables.

Turkey’s parliament on Wednesday fast-tracked the approval of a legislation allowing troops to be deployed to a Turkish military base in Qatar.

Analysts said the decision by was not necessarily anti-Saudi, but a show of support for Qatar as it faces diplomatic and trade isolation.