WASHINGTON D.C. / ACCESSWIRE / November 13, 2019 / On November 12, 2019, MEMRI released a comprehensive report on Turkey-Qatar Relations: From Bilateral Ties To A Comprehensive Strategic Partnership by MEMRI President Yigal Carmon and senior analyst C. Meital.

According to the report, a new Turkish military base is to be inaugurated this month in Qatar by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Aal Thani. This is the second Turkish base to be built in Qatar; the first, in the Al-Rayyan area, was opened in 2015.

The new base is yet another manifestation of the strategic alliance that has grown between the two counties over the last 20 years. This alliance is rooted in political, economic, and military interests: Turkey wishes to gain a military foothold in the Gulf, as part of its deployment in a range of regional Muslim countries, including Libya, Sudan, and Somalia, and in the context of its efforts to regain the hegemony it enjoyed until the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1924. The construction of these bases in Qatar is part of these efforts. Regardless of the number of troops currently stationed there, the bases are of immense strategic importance, since Qatar holds the world's third-largest natural gas reserves.

Hence, Turkey's military presence in Qatar enables it to become a major player in the global energy market and to advance its own economy in various ways. Qatar's arms deals with Turkey's military industry, and its investments in this industry, likewise enrich Turkey's coffers. Furthermore, Qatar has extended financial aid to Turkey in times of crisis; in 2018, for example, it provided it with $18 billion in aid ($15 billion in direct aid and a $3 billion line of credit), to counter the U.S. sanctions against it. A Turkish presence in the Gulf may also lend it extensive influence over Qatar's relations with its Gulf neighbors, namely the Arab Gulf states and Iran.

This report reviews the manifestations of the strategic cooperation between Qatar and Turkey, especially in the military domain. It is a part of MEMRI's Turkish Studies Project, which monitors Turkish-language television, print, and digital news sources as well as social media.

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SOURCE: Middle East Media Research Institute