ISTANBUL — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, signed a mutual defense agreement on Friday, Nov. 13, at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul.[1] Neither government has published the text. The official announcements we reviewed describe the agreement’s purpose but not its terms.
Related: Turkey Seeks Mandate to Send Troops to Saudi Arabia Under Mecca Pact.
Where to read the official announcements
The agreement itself is not online. The two governments’ announcements are: the Qatar News Agency statement on the defense agreement, and the Turkish Directorate of Communications notice on the meeting. We will add a link to the full text if either side releases it.
What is in the agreement
Qatar’s state news agency called it a joint defense agreement aimed at strengthening military cooperation between the two countries. It gave no clauses.[1]
The Turkish presidency’s statement did not provide details on the accord, Reuters reported. It quoted Erdogan as saying the agreement “would add another dimension to our brotherhood.”
Middle East Eye reported that the new deal obliges each country to come to the other’s defense, which earlier Turkish-Qatari defense agreements did not. That description is unconfirmed: it comes from one outlet and does not appear in either government’s statement.
Not yet public: what counts as an attack, what help each side must give, how long the agreement runs, and whether it needs approval by Turkey’s parliament before it takes effect.
What else was signed
The defense agreement was one of five documents signed at the 12th meeting of the Turkey-Qatar Supreme Strategic Committee. It was the one the two leaders signed themselves.[3]
Ministers signed the rest: a memorandum on consumer protection and market surveillance, an education cooperation agreement, a foreign ministry memorandum on peace, reconciliation and conflict resolution, and the committee’s joint declaration.[3]
Qatar’s defense minister, Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Turkey’s defense minister, Yasar Guler, attended the ceremony.[1] The talks covered defense, trade, investment, energy and education, along with global energy security.[2]
What Erdogan said
Erdogan said the two countries would keep working together to stop the war in the Gulf from flaring up again and to build a basis for dialogue. He said defense industry cooperation would keep growing and that Turkey wants to widen its energy partnership with Qatar.[4] The leaders also discussed Gaza, Syria and Libya.[4]
The background
Turkey and Qatar have had defense agreements since 2017, including one under which Turkish troops are based in Doha.[6] Qatar has also been a channel in the Iran war: Iran sent a nuclear proposal through Qatar last week.
A security analyst, Yusuf Alabarda, told Al Jazeera that Gulf states, Qatar above all, have concluded that U.S. security guarantees are not working properly, and that Turkish weapons and air defenses might be sent to Qatar in the near term. That is his assessment, not an announced plan.
The agreement follows a three-way defense pact that Turkey signed with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in Mecca in August. Under that pact an attack on one member counts as an attack on all. Turkey’s parliament ratified it last week, clearing the way for Ankara to send military support to Saudi Arabia.[7] Our earlier coverage: the Mecca Pact nations’ talks with Iran in Tehran.
For more, see Middle East news, the Military Deployments Tracker and today’s Iran news update.
Sources
- Qatar News Agency: HH the Amir, Turkish President Sign Joint Defense Agreement
- Qatar News Agency: HH the Amir, Turkish President Co-Chair 12th Qatar-Turkiye Supreme Strategic Committee Meeting
- Anadolu Agency (in French): Cinq accords signés entre la Türkiye et le Qatar
- Anadolu Agency (in French): Erdogan et l’émir Al Thani scellent un accord de défense mutuelle à Istanbul
- Al Jazeera: Turkiye and Qatar sign mutual defence agreement
- Middle East Eye: Turkey and Qatar sign mutual defence agreement
- The Jerusalem Post (Reuters): Turkey, Qatar sign mutual defense agreement, Turkish presidency says
- Turkish Directorate of Communications: President Erdoğan meets with Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim
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