DOHA: Qatar has thrown its weight behind Turkey’s military offensive against Kurdish militia in Syria, coming to the defence of the “national security” of one of its closest allies.
“The
state of Qatar reaffirmed its support for the efforts of the Republic
of Turkey to maintain its national security in the wake of the breaches
and terrorist attacks carried out inside Turkish territories,” foreign
ministry spokeswoman Lolwa Al-Khater said.
Speaking
to Qatari media on Monday, Khater said Turkey’s launch of Operation
Olive Branch was “driven by legitimate concerns related to its national
security and securing its borders, as well as protecting the territorial
integrity of Syria from the danger of secession”.
Qatar’s
announcement came as Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to
step up an offensive against Kurdish targets in neighbouring Syria and
Iraq.
The operation, which includes
an air and ground campaign involving Ankara-backed Syrian rebels, aims
to oust the People’s Protection Units (YPG) from Afrin in northern
Syria.
Turkey views the YPG as a
terror group and an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK),
which has long fought for autonomy.
The YPG denies aiming for separatism.
Turkey’s
offensive is complicated by the United States’ relationship with the
YPG, which it relied on to help oust Islamic State jihadists from their
Syrian strongholds.
Qatar has grown
closer to Turkey since June when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and
Egypt cut all relations with Doha, which they accused of ties to
Islamist extremists and Shiite Iran.
Ankara has since stepped in, providing food imports and political backing to Qatar amid the boycott.
The offensive on Afrin has also surfaced as a point of contention among the Gulf states.
UAE
state minister for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash on Sunday warned that
the operation risks further rupturing the unity of Arab states.
“The developments around Afrin reaffirm the need to rebuild and restore the concept of Arab national security,” Gargash tweeted.
“Without that, the Arabs will be marginalised.”
Turkey
has a military base in Qatar and both countries have been unstinting in
their opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Qatar’s
Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani was the first foreign leader to
phone Erdogan during Turkey’s failed coup in July 2016.
Σχόλια
Δημοσίευση σχολίου