Qatar dispute ‘artificial’: Deputy PM

By Ali Kemal Akan, Selma Kasap and Mumin Altas

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Tuesday the ongoing crisis between Gulf states was “artificial”.

“There is no crisis between two states, or a state and the others in the Gulf region that is grounded in a real cause. It is a fabricated and artificial dispute,“ Numan Kurtulmus, who also serves as government spokesman, told a fast-breaking iftar gathering with Ankara representatives of newspapers and TV channels.

“Everybody sees that it has the potential to turn into a big crisis,” he said, adding it could affect other nearby countries.

Asked whether Turkey’s initiatives to resolve the crisis could be termed “mediation”, Kurtulmus replied: “If any broker is needed in the future, Turkey is the shoo-in in the region.”

On June 5, five Arab countries -- Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Yemen -- abruptly cut diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism.