ANKARA — US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed developments in Syria and the Qatar issue on a phone call late on Saturday, Turkish foreign ministry sources said.
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Mevlut Cavusoglu[/caption]
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech at a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner in Istanbul vowed to keep supporting Qatar after his rapid approval of legislation on deploying Turkish troops there.
On Saturday, he told Bahrain’s foreign minister that the dispute should be resolved by the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
Erdogan on Thursday also approved an accord between Turkey and Qatar on military training cooperation. Turkey has also pledged to provide food and water supplies to Qatar.
Turkey has maintained good relations with Qatar as well as several of its Gulf Arab neighbors. Turkey and Qatar have both provided support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
Turkey and fellow NATO member the United States have also been at loggerheads regarding US support the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in the fight against Daesh in Syria. Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade-long insurgency on its soil.
The United States said last week it had started supplying arms to the YPG for an assault on the Syrian town of Raqqa, deepening Turkey’s anger. The YPG’s role in the Raqqa campaign has strained ties between the United States and Turkey, which fears growing Kurdish ascendancy along its border. — Reuters
