President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who arrived in Qatar on Tuesday evening, met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Wednesday in Doha.
The two leaders later attended a ceremony for the signing of bilateral agreements between the two allies and chaired the high-level strategic committee of the countries, which held its 11th meeting in the Qatari capital.
Turkish and Qatari ministers and high-ranking officials signed a series of declarations and memoranda of understanding for cooperation. Among those were a declaration on the meeting of the committee, cooperation and exchange of know-how in strategic development planning, a joint declaration of the Ministries of Industry and Commerce, and a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the defense industry.
In his talks with the Qatari emir, Erdoğan highlighted the importance of a cease-fire in Gaza. The Turkish Presidency’s Directorate of Communications said Erdoğan told Sheikh Tamim that Türkiye and Qatar’s strategic partnership contributed to regional and global stability.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza once again dominated the talks. Erdoğan told the emir that the cease-fire in Gaza is a sigh of relief for Palestinians, the directorate said. He also highlighted that having a sovereign State of Palestine was the only lasting solution to the conflict.
Erdoğan and Sheikh Tamim also discussed joint efforts for the recovery of post-Assad Syria, and Erdoğan affirmed that their cooperation on this matter would prevail.
After a lunch with the Qatari emir, Erdoğan left for Muscat.
The Turkish leader was in Kuwait on Tuesday, in the first stopover of his Gulf tour, and oversaw the signing of several agreements and memoranda of understanding. Later on Wednesday, he was scheduled to depart for Oman, his last stopover in the region.
Along with bilateral ties, the Palestine-Israel conflict, especially the situation in Gaza, dominates Erdoğan’s talks during the visit.
At the meeting with Kuwait’s emir, Sheikh Mishal Al Ahmad Al Sabah, Erdoğan said preservation of the hard-won cease-fire in Gaza was critical. He also called the Islamic world to adopt a joint stance for achieving a two-state solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict, "to ensure a lasting peace.”