Erdogan urges lifting of blockade against Qatar

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday evening called for lifting the blockade against Qatar, reaffirming Turkey's support for the Arab country.

"I call on the leaders and citizens of the Gulf states, there will be no winner in this fight and slanders will get us nowhere," the President said at a fasting-break dinner in Istanbul, Xinhua reported.

He urged Saudi Arabia to end all restrictions on Qatar and resolve the ongoing dispute through talks.

Early this week, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed sanctions on it on the grounds that Doha supports terrorism, with Libya, Yemen and the Maldives following suit.

Qatar has rejected the accusations as "unjustified" and "baseless."

"We will not abandon our Qatari brothers," Erdogan said. "There is no such thing. Until now I have not seen Qatar give support to terror."

On Thursday night, Erdogan ratified two deals on deploying Turkish troops to Qatar and training its gendarmerie after they were passed by Turkey's parliament a day earlier.

--IANS

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