President Erdoğan: The relations between Türkiye and Qatar are getting stronger day by day in keeping with the two countries’ friendship
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a press conference before leaving for Qatar, where he will attend the Türkiye-Qatar Supreme Strategic Committee’s 7th meeting at the invitation of Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar.
Noting that the first meeting of the Strategic Committee, about whose establishment he and Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim had reached a decision back in 2014, was held in Doha in 2015, President Erdoğan said: “The relations between Türkiye and Qatar are getting stronger day by day on the basis of a strategic perspective in keeping with the two countries’ histories, potentials and friendship. Within the framework of the Supreme Strategic Committee mechanism, we have thus far signed 69 documents with Qatar in a wide range of areas including on military, political, commercial, economic and cultural matters. The deals we have made have further enhanced our cooperation. We will consolidate our solidarity through the agreements we will sign tomorrow on the occasion of the 7th meeting.”
He and Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim will co-chair the committee meeting following their bilateral talks, the President stated. “We will review all the aspects of our bilateral relations during our talks. We will exchange views on important regional and international issues that are on our shared agenda. I will thereafter pay a visit to the Qatari-Turkish Combined Joint Task Force Command. I will converse with our soldiers and commanders who are on duty at the Joint Task Force Command, a sign of the friendship between Türkiye and Qatar.”
“TÜRKIYE AND QATAR HAVE PRESERVED THEIR FIRM STANCE IN THE FACE OF REGIONAL DIFFICULTIES”
Describing Türkiye and Qatar as two countries which have preserved their firm stance in the face of the regional difficulties they have experienced in recent years, President Erdoğan said: “We have managed to overcome the obstacles we have faced by acting in close cooperation as two friends and brothers. We have strengthened our win-win cooperation in many areas from defense to trade and investments. Türkiye’s first-ever zinc smelting factory, which we inaugurated in Siirt on Saturday, is the latest example of this. This facility, which will be initially manufacturing 50 thousand tons annually and will boost its capacity first to 120 thousand tons and then to as high as 250 thousand tons, will meet nearly half of our country’s need for zinc. With the inauguration of the lead-silver and sulfuric acid factories as well, a total of 7.5 thousand people will be employed. We see this investment, the total value of which will reach 500 million dollars by 2023, as an embodiment of our Qatari brothers and sisters’ confidence in Türkiye and the Turkish economy.”
President Erdoğan continued his remarks as follows: “Such investments will exponentially increase as terrorism’s dark shadow over our Eastern and South Eastern Anatolia regions disappears. This is the reason why those who collaborate with the political extensions of the separatist terrorist organization cannot learn to accept Qatar’s investments in our country. Their annoyance actually stems from the fact that Türkiye attracts direct international investments and the Turkish economy rises on the foundations of investment, employment, production and exportation. We all witness the indications of this in the letters of complaint sent to the ambassadors of foreign countries and in the delusional remarks made to the international media. As has been the case in the last 19 years, we will continue to develop and strengthen our country and make it a shining star of the region despite these tutelage supporters, who are hostile to capital and investments. We have been working in this direction to reinforce our cooperation with other countries in the Gulf besides Qatar.”
Expressing Türkiye’s pleasure over the efforts aimed at re-opening the channels of dialogue and getting rid of misunderstandings in the Gulf region, President Erdoğan stated: “As Türkiye, we will maintain our relations with our brothers and sisters in the Gulf without distinction within the framework of our common interests and mutual respect. May the Lord help us! I am of the belief that our talks in Doha will significantly contribute to the deepening of our relations with Qatar. I hope our talks will lead to auspicious developments for our country and nation and will further consolidate the Türkiye-Qatar brotherhood.”
