Further Unravelling of the Middle East

Since it became known that the United States was the mind behind the isolating of Qatar, it seems as if every day a new country is taking sides. Most recently to fall into this conflict is Turkey, who along with Iran will be supporting Qatar.

Although earlier this week it looked as if they would remain neutral and attempt to defuse this situation before it got out of hand, last night their government held a special session to change this view. They met to rush laws through the system that would allow the Turkish army to work with the army of Qatar. Not only can they work together, but Turkey is also allowed to send troops to Qatar where they already have an active military base which holds 150 soldiers at the moment.

Earlier that day Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, “I want to clearly say that we disapprove of the sanctions on Qatar.” These sanctions including the closing off of all air and sea travel from Egypt, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, and also included Saudi Arabia who cut off land travel as well. These sanctions left Qatar in a state of panic since Saudi Arabia is their main food supplier, and they will no longer trade with them.

The sanctions were a result of Qatar’s tendency to support Islamist political movements as well as supporting Saudi Arabia’s enemy Iran, who is notorious for supporting terrorist organizations.

Earlier this week it seemed as if Turkey would not take sides when they held a phone meeting on Monday between the leaders of Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. The nature of their role though seemed to change two days later, though, when President Erdogan met with the foreign minister of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in Ankara. It was ultimately decided last night with the legislation that Turkey passed.

According to Galip Dalay, the research director for Al Sharq Forum, a research organization in Turkey, Turkey did not want to take a side in this crisis, “[but] on the other hand, Turkey is very concerned that if Qatar succumbs to pressure, inevitably Qatar will re-evaluate its relationship with Turkey.”

Any damage to Turkey’s relationship would be monumental to their foreign relations to the Middle East as a whole. The two sides align very similarly as a whole. These similarities range from the handling of various groups such as Muslim Brotherhood, which both nations welcomed in 2013 when members from Egypt fled after Mohamed Musi was run out of office.

Qatar has also proven to be one of Turkey’s most reliable allies in recent years. After a failed coup attempt in Turkey last year the first country to reach out to President Erdogan was Qatar. The two nations also have a very similar view of how the Middle East should look down the road.

There are also selfish motives behind their support of Qatar. Other ties that they have in the region have been greatly weakened as a result of their condemning of the sanctions, and who knows how these relations will be repaired in the future. If Qatar caves into the demands of their neighbors, then Turkey will have very little pull in the region, leading to their vision of the Middle East becoming an unattainable goal.