Turkish foreign minister meets Qatari counterpart, emir

By Havva Kara Aydin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday met with the Qatari counterpart and the emir in Doha.

In a Twitter post, Cavusoglu said: “Met with Amir Sheikh Tamim [bin Hamad Al Thani] of #Qatar. Welcome Qatar's role in efforts for conflict resolution in #Syria.”

He said he “will work with Qatar on the road to peace in Afghanistan,” stressing that the two countries’ strong cooperation serves regional peace.

During the visit, Cavusoglu also met with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and discussed bilateral relations and regional issues. This was their second meeting in a month.

"Continuing to support normalization in Gulf,” the Turkish minister said on Twitter, adding they will continue to further develop cooperation with Qatar in every field.

Ankara and Doha enjoy strong relations, particularly since the 2017 blockade of the Gulf country by Saudi Arabia and others.

On Jan. 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt signed a reconciliation deal with Qatar during a Gulf Cooperation Council summit to end a more than three-year feud, a move Turkey welcomed.

Earlier, Cavusoglu arrived in the Gulf state of Qatar on a two-day working visit and attended a trilateral meeting with the Qatari and Russian foreign ministers.

- Meeting with former Syrian premier

The Turkish foreign minister also met with former Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Farid Hijab during his visit to Qatar.

“In Qatar, where we came for a trilateral meeting, we discussed the developments regarding the latest situation in Syria with former Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab,” said Cavusoglu on Twitter.

Syria has been embroiled in a civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Over the past 10 years, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN officials.