Dr. Khalid Mubarak Al-Shafi, Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula talking on Alaraby TV talk-show on the Gulf crisis.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit was not only to Doha but it also included Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and there are some countries which consider Turkish position as biased position.
“The Turkish position was clear from the beginning of the crisis and it supports Kuwaiti mediation to resolve the crisis through dialogue and negotiations based on respect of Qatar’s sovereignty,” said Dr. Khalid Mubarak Al-Shafi, Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula while talking on Alaraby TV talk-show on the Gulf crisis.
“Turkish President’s visit was to provide more suggestions to resolve the crisis and it is not a mediator rather it is supporting Kuwaiti mediation. Before Erdogan’s visit there was also a visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to Saudi Arabia in an attempt to broker a solution,” Dr. Al-Shafi said.
From the beginning, Dr. Al-Shafi said that Qatar rejects siege countries’ allegations and its demands. “Now the siege countries, after international pressure, have retreated from the 13 demands, which we call in Qatar 13 allegations, to six and most of six demands focus on terrorism while Qatar’s position on terrorism is very well known which is to fight against terrorism,” Dr. Al-Shafi added.
Replying to question that Qatar was exploiting contradictions found in stance of Saudi Arabia and UAE, he said, “Qatar welcomed any solution to unify to GCC and Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has said in his recent speech that Qatar is ready for any dialogue that respects Qatar’s sovereignty. Same time, Qatar cannot force others for solution if they don’t want.”
“But we should know that the UAE is jealous of Qatar because of its important position in the international community. Two days ago we saw that United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres welcomed the invitation of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for dialogue to resolve the GCC crisis,” he said.
Dr. Al-Shafi said that the siege countries had thought that the blockade would affect Qatar and ultimately Qatar would give up and “this didn’t happen due to the wise Qatari leadership and unity of the people with their leader”.
For their sides, the guests from France and Turkey, Ali Bakeer and Salah Al Ghadri, confirmed that Turkey was not a mediator rather it was only supporting Kuwaiti efforts. They noted that during his visit, Turkish President tried to persuade Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz to resolve the crisis and to take the initiative in this regard “but the problem is that some parties don’t want a solution”.
They further said that anyone who was following the developments revolving around the crisis will discover that there are some changes in the last week. Saudi Foreign Minister said that they (Saudi Arabia) are open on Qatar in case some changes happen.
“I think Saudi Arabia has achieved its goal which was to remove Mohammed bin Nayef with the help of the UAE,” said Salah Al Ghadri, a political researcher. The siege countries had committed a mistake in reading the political scenario.
“They were thinking that the US will agree with them but it didn’t happen and even some countries have accused Saudi Arabia of supporting terrorism,”Al Ghadri added.
Ali Bakeer, Researcher in International Relations said: “The military escalation hypothesis has become impossible after Turkish base. The siege countries have no option but to accept the retreat especially after the US pressure and leaks.”
