Qatar, a small, rich country in the Gulf, faced an unprecedented attack early in the week.
Some Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Libya and Yemen, all announced that they had broken off diplomatic relations with Qatar within a few hours. They called on Qatari diplomatic representatives and citizens to leave their countries and announced that they would put sanctions on trade activities with the country. Fear and panic dominate the country of 3 million people, which is mainly known for companies such as Qatar Airways and Al Jazeera.
What is the reason behind systematically isolating Qatar? Arab countries justify their position by arguing that Qatar aids radical terrorists. However, it is unclear what evidence they have to support these assertions, which the Qatari administration, which has opened up to the whole world, strongly rejects. The only concrete thing being talked about are anti-U.S. statements in support of Iran, which were published by the state-run Qatar News Agency (QNA, on May 23, with reference to Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
However, the director of the Qatari government Communications Office right from the start denied these remarks, which quickly snowballed in media around the world. The government announced that QNA had been hacked, asking to ignore the news. Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani also announced that the country was targeted through the media at a press conference.
But what good is it? After all, they pressed the button against Qatar. I do not know; perhaps, I must say that they pressed the globe. This is because it all started after a photo that seemed to have been taken on a "Harry Potter" set during U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia on May 20.
Countries like Egypt, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, in particular, whose names are often referred to along with radicalism, terrorism and coups, have begun to manipulate media to bring attention to Qatar. Moreover, Qatar also trades with Iran, which Trump harshly pointed to during his talks in the Middle East. Trump's statements on his personal Twitter account after the crisis broke out confirm the developments: "During my recent trip to the Middle East, I stated that there can no longer be funding of radical ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar: look!"
It is clear that Trump, who besmirches the reputation of the U.S. by overtly providing weaponry to the PKK affiliate Democratic Union Party's (PYD) People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, which is a secular version of radical terrorists in Syria, is coming to adopt this as a diplomatic method.
He is paving the way for new obscurity in the Middle East through the formation of de facto states that Iran and Egypt's Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who came to power through a military coup in which hundreds of civilians were killed, accuse of supporting Daesh. Moreover, he has now targeted Qatar as an appetizer at a time when the country has developed good relations with the U.S. and the whole world and is home to a huge U.S. air base.
Yes, Trump is on the verge of making a serious mistake. Levelheaded politicians in Washington should abandon rumors about Qatar and diversify their sources of information. They can start by paying more attention to Turkey, a U.S. ally of 50 years and the only democratic, secular state in the region, as well as Arab countries that are often referred to along with radicalism. This is because Turkey is the most reasonable and reliable country in the region that can assume the role of mediator in the Qatar crisis and the Iran stalemate, which are potential problems in the future. Remember, Turkey demonstrated this capability to the world in the uranium barter agreement signed with Iran by former U.S. President Barack Obama's administration in 2011.
