Turkey approves bill allowing troop deployment in Qatar

Turkey's Grand National Assembly on Wednesday approved draft bill allowing the deployment of troop to a Turkish military base in Qatar.

According to Xinhua, the bill includes two pieces of legislation: allowing Turkish troops to be deployed in Qatar and approving an accord between the two countries on military officer training cooperation.

The parliamentary approval comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday expressed disapproval of the sanctions imposed on Qatar by several Arab countries.

"I hope that all sanctions against Qatar will be lifted as soon as possible," Erdogan said.

The bill, drafted before the rift, passed with 240 votes in favour, largely with support from the ruling AKP Party and nationalist opposition MHP.

The new move appears to support Qatar as it faces diplomatic and trade isolation from some of the biggest Middle Eastern powers.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, Libya and the Maldives cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, claiming it of "terrorism support."

--IANS

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