Turkey to set up Qatar military base to face 'common enemies'

[T-Rex]

Turkey will establish a military base in Qatar as part of a defence agreement aimed at helping them confront “common enemies,” Turkey’s ambassador to Qatar said on Dec. 16.

Establishment of the base, part of an agreement signed in 2014 and ratified by Turkey’s parliament in June, intensifies the partnership with Qatar at a time of rising instability and a perceived waning of U.S. interest in the region.

The two countries, both economic heavyweights, have provided support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, backed rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and raised the alarm about creeping Iranian influence in the region.

Both have condemned Russia’s intervention on the side of Assad’s forces fighting in Syria.

The envoy, Ahmet Demirok, told Reuters that three thousand ground troops would be stationed at the base - Turkey’s first overseas military installation in the Middle East - as well as air and naval units, military trainers and special operations forces.

The “multi-purpose” base will primarily serve as a venue for joint training exercises and Qatar was also looking at setting up its own base in Turkey, he said in an interview.

“Turkey and Qatar face common problems and we are both very concerned about developments in the region and uncertain policies of other countries ... We confront common enemies. At this critical time for the Middle East cooperation between us is vital,” Demirok said.

One of the wealthiest countries in the world, Qatar is home to the largest U.S. air base in the Middle East, Al Udeid, where around 10,000 military personnel are stationed, though U.S. interest in the region is perceived to be lessening.

Demirok said 100 Turkish troops were currently in Qatar training the Gulf state’s military. He did not say when the new Turkish base would be completed.

“Today we are not building a new alliance but rather rediscovering historic and brotherly ties,” he said, referring to the Muslim Ottoman Empire which, before its collapse in 1920, stretched from eastern Europe to the Arab Gulf.

“With the perceived disengagement by the United States from the Gulf, what we are witnessing now is a diversification of potential allies,” said Jean-Marc Rickli, a professor at King’s College London teaching at Qatar National Defence College.

“If you are a small state like Qatar you have an interest in hosting several allies on your territory because it provides you with an indirect security guarantee from your ally. Moreover, it increases the costs for the aggressor of any potential attack.”

Qatari officials were not immediately available for comment.

Saudi Arabia announced Dec. 15 the formation of a 34-state Islamic military coalition to combat terrorism, according to a joint statement published by the SPA state news agency, in a move welcomed by the United States.

The countries the agency listed included Turkey and Qatar along with Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Pakistan and several African nations as well Gulf Arab states.

Turkey to set up Qatar military base to face 'common enemies' - MIDEAST

 

[T-Rex]

This is a very good move by Turkey and Qatar. They should set up another base somewhere near Egypt to send a message to sissy the thug. After betraying the people of Egypt the despots in SA have no right to lead any Muslim Army. The sectarian SA and Iranian influence must be checked by the other Muslim states. For the stupidity of these two states the Muslim World has become an easy meal of the wolves.

 

[Goenitz]

This is a very good move by Turkey and Qatar. They should set up another base somewhere near Egypt to send a message to sissy the thug. After betraying the people of Egypt the despots in SA have no right to lead any Muslim Army. The sectarian SA and Iranian influence must be checked by the other Muslim states. For the stupidity of these two states the Muslim World has become an easy meal of the wolves.

SA supporting SISI while Turkey not.... US supporting SA in Syria but Iran in Yemen.... strange alliances...

 

[T-Rex]

This is to secure trading routes for qatari LNG tankers for Turkey.

Whoever has a secure sea lane is the master of the trade and whoever is the master of sea trade is the master of the world. Basically all naval doctrines revolve around this reality. Hitler lost the war because he could not permanently disrupt the transatlantic sea routes between UK and the US. However, I believe in case of Turkey's base in Qatar there's another dimension to it. Both Turkey and Qatar want democracy in Egypt, both of them support the struggle against the Asad regime in Syria. Unlike SA, their stand in Syria is in line with their stand in Egypt. What most people don't understand is why Qatar wants democracy in Egypt. It's an enigma to those who don't know how the Qatari Emir came to power. Anyway, at the moment I think, of all the states in ME only Turkey and Qatar are on right track.

 

[Serpentine]

but Iran in Yemen

Since when U.S isupporting Iran in Yemen? U.S has supported Saudi war in Yemen with logistics and rms and also politically. If it wasn't for American arms, Saudis wouldn't be able to go on even for one week. Check your facts. Iran has no presence in Yemen.

This is a very good move by Turkey and Qatar. They should set up another base somewhere near Egypt to send a message to sissy the thug. After betraying the people of Egypt the despots in SA have no right to lead any Muslim Army. The sectarian SA and Iranian influence must be checked by the other Muslim states. For the stupidity of these two states the Muslim World has become an easy meal of the wolves.

It seems you guys are fed with the word 'Iran' day and night.

It's funny that Qatar, literally the cache-reserve of many terrorist groups across ME, is supposed to 'check' anything in ME, along with Turkey, whose sectarian policies in Syria are known to anyone and whose support to terror groups in the country has led to formation of monsters like Nusra and ISIS. Yes, Muslim world definitely needs them.

Iran has been the bogeyman for years, and people are fooled so easily that the don't even recognize the real source of problem in region. Just look at all the terror groups in ME and see who is supporting them, what their ideology is and where they come from.

What most people don't understand is why Qatar wants democracy in Egypt. It's an enigma to those who don't know how the Qatari Emir came to power. Anyway, at the moment I think, of all the states in ME only Turkey and Qatar are on right track.

A country in which power is transferred through sperm is the last one to be wanting democracy in another country. This is the bitter joke in our times, that most politically backward dictatorships want 'democracy' for other countries.

 

[Saho]

Is this the first time Turkey meddled in the Middle East because of the war or was it norm in the past?

 

[T-Rex]

Iran has no presence in Yemen.

Now, that's highly unlikely, don't you think so? The zionazis are also claiming the same thing that they have absolutely no role in Yemen. Now, we all know who provided the bunker buster bombs to SA, don't we?

 

[Sipahi]

Is this the first time Turkey meddled in the Middle East because of the war or was it norm in the past?

Turkey(ottomans) ruled middle east almost 600+ years ...

 

[Serpentine]

Now, that's highly unlikely, don't you think so? The zionazis are also claiming the same thing that they have absolutely no role in Yemen. Now, we all know who provided the bunker buster bombs to SA, don't we?

See? That's the problem with you guys, you are on board with every thing the mainstream media says, and at the same time, you claim to be concerned with 'glory' of Muslims. That's ridiculous.

Ok where are Iranians in Yemen? Can you show me just where we are? Only because a coalition of backward dictatorships say Iran is in Yemen to justify their crimes in the country, doesn't mean we are actually there. Ever asked yourself, why despite constant blabbering by coalition countries, they fail to provide a single tangible evidence of Iranian presence in Yemen? No of course you didn't.

Compare this with what those backward dictatorships are doing in Syria, arming and funding all kinds of terrorists in the country.

 

[T-Rex]

See? That's the problem with you guys, you are on board with every thing the mainstream media says, and at the same time, you claim to be concerned with 'glory' of Muslims. That's ridiculous.

Ok where are Iranians in Yemen? Can you show me just where we are? Only because a coalition of backward dictatorships say Iran is in Yemen to justify their crimes in the country, doesn't mean we are actually there. Ever asked yourself, why despite constant blabbering by coalition countries, they fail to provide a single tangible evidence of Iranian presence in Yemen? No of course you didn't.

Compare this with what those backward dictatorships are doing in Syria, arming and funding all kinds of terrorists in the country.

Cut the crap, would you? You know you don't have to be physically there as long as you have your proxy there!

Compare this with what those backward dictatorships are doing in Syria, arming and funding all kinds of terrorists in the country.

Are you trying to say that Syria was a democracy under the Asad regime?

 

[Serpentine]

Cut the crap, would you? You know you don't have to be physically there as long as you have your proxy there!

Lame argument. How are they Iran's proxies? Do we politically support them? Of course we are, but that doesn't make them anyone's proxy. If that's the case, every single party in this world is a proxy because it is supported by some other group/country.

Are you trying to say that Syria was a democracy under the Asad regime?

No it wasn't, but look at it now, bunch of animals running around trying to establish a global Caliphate by terrorizing anything that comes in their way.

 

[AUz]

No it wasn't, but look at it now, bunch of animals running around trying to establish a global Caliphate by terrorizing anything that comes in their way.

Serpentine, you are a reasonable man. You must see that Assad and his regime are an illegitimate regime oppressing innocent people. Savages of ISIS and others rose after...much after...the actions of Assad. I perfectly remember that during Arab spring, some Syrian towns were protesting against Assad regime peacefully and it was Assad who just absolutely murdered these protesters--and hence began the civil war which has engulfed the entire country and caused deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.

Assad's army has acted in absolute savage way. They have bombed cities indiscriminately, burned their opponents alive, buried anti-Assad protesters alive, and have absolutely decimated towns where there was presence of anti-Assad elements.

ISIS/Assad regime are faces of same coin. Both are equally savage. Both need to go. Iranian support for Assad (which I understand is to protect Iranian interests) will only aggravate the situation for Iranians and the region will continue to burn.

 

[Serpentine]

Serpentine, you are a reasonable man. You must see that Assad and his regime are an illegitimate regime oppressing innocent people. Savages of ISIS and others rose after...much after

Wrong. ISIS was very alive, but only in Iraq. The vacuum of power made it possible for them to come into Syria. ISIS was not created like days ago, it's an ideology that has gained support from a minority Sunnis all over the world, but that minority is enough to gather a huge army of murderers.

the actions of Assad. I perfectly remember that during Arab spring, some Syrian towns were protesting against Assad regime peacefully and it was Assad who just absolutely murdered these protesters--and hence began the civil war which has engulfed the entire country and caused deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.

Assad is not innocent, but what neighboring countries of Syria did, I mean sending arms and money to armed groups, just made the suffering much bigger. No country in the world tolerates seeing foreign countries arm people to topple their governments. And the protests were not entirely peaceful at the beginning despite the false narration that has became popular. Yes some thugs in the inner circles of regime did things stupid and they should be punished severely, but only on 5th day of protests in Syria, 'protesters' attacked a gov building, torched it down and killed 5 policemen. Take note, this happened on 5th day. I have followed events very closely from beginning.

Assad's army has acted in absolute savage way. They have bombed cities indiscriminately, burned their opponents alive, buried anti-Assad protesters alive, and have absolutely decimated towns where there was presence of anti-Assad elements.

No one was burned or buried alive, but yes protesters were killed, same as gov troops in the very beginning. Many people falsely claim protest were entirely peaceful for months while government was shooting at them left and right, that's just pure nonsense. But I do agree that some things were not handled right and people responsible should pay for it. You should understand that Assad is only a single person, he is not responsible for every single bullet shot and he certainly can't control it. The regime included many power factions and Assad is just the popular face. There are many more people that you and I barely hear about and they are mostly responsible for some serious mistakes and believe me, some of them can be more powerful than Assad himself.

ISIS/Assad regime are faces of same coin. Both are equally savage. Both need to go. Iranian support for Assad (which I understand is to protect Iranian interests) will only aggravate the situation for Iranians and the region will continue to burn.

Actually, it's the 'rebels' and ISIS who are faces of same coin. The countries who are arming people in Syria are among most politically backward systems in the world and they want to bring 'democracy' to Syria, isn't that just ridiculous? Try protesting in the very same countries in the same fashion and see what will happen to you. You can't, because you will be dead after that. Don't you get it? It's not about democracy in Syria, it's about bringing their own stooge to power, someone who doesn't stand in their way. Why do you thing terror state of Qatar is actively funding Nusra and other terrorists? Because Syria refused Qatar's request to allow a Qatari pipeline from its territory years ago. It's just a geopolitical game, not a single party who supports terrorists cares about democracy or random civilians on streets. Iran has said it will support a broad election in Syria if the fighting stops and countries stop arming groups in there. From day 1 we have said that, and guess who opposes it?

 

[raptor22]

Serpentine, you are a reasonable man. You must see that Assad and his regime are an illegitimate regime oppressing innocent people. Savages of ISIS and others rose after...much after...the actions of Assad. I perfectly remember that during Arab spring, some Syrian towns were protesting against Assad regime peacefully and it was Assad who just absolutely murdered these protesters--and hence began the civil war which has engulfed the entire country and caused deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.

Assad's army has acted in absolute savage way. They have bombed cities indiscriminately, burned their opponents alive, buried anti-Assad protesters alive, and have absolutely decimated towns where there was presence of anti-Assad elements.

ISIS/Assad regime are faces of same coin. Both are equally savage. Both need to go. Iranian support for Assad (which I understand is to protect Iranian interests) will only aggravate the situation for Iranians and the region will continue to burn.

ISIS was formed in Iraq back in 2006 ... not in Syria after protests .....haven't you seen what happened to Lybia? Syria should remain united

 

[mpk1988]

This is to secure trading routes for qatari LNG tankers for Turkey.

n that right there is the answer..