Leaders of Qatar and Turkey meet for strategic dialogue as partnership strengthens
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet in Istanbul today for the fourth Turkey-Qatar Supreme Strategic Committee meeting.
The two leaders will likely discuss, among other things, a more unified response to the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Erdogan has demanded accountability from Riyadh, which continues to deny that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had any involvement in the killing.
Last week, Doha called for similar accountability from the Saudi regime, an indication that it has few intentions of precipitating a thaw in tensions between itself and the other gulf monarchies and will continue strengthening relations with Turkey and Iran.
Today, expect the two leaders to agree to continue mounting pressure on Riyadh to improve transparency about its role in Khashoggi’s killing. Though efforts between both Qatar and Turkey and Qatar and Iran to counter Saudi expansionism will increase, do not expect a significant warming of relations between Qatar’s two biggest allies. An ongoing battle for influence over the outcome in Syria will keep the two at odds.
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