Turkey, Qatar sign mutual defence agreement, Turkish presidency says

Turkey and Qatar ​signed a mutual defence agreement ‌on Friday, ​the office of President Tayyip Erdogan said, as the Turkish leader met the Qatari Emir Sheikh ‌Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Istanbul.

"President Erdogan stated that we would continue working together to prevent the resurgence of war in the Gulf region ‌and establish a basis for dialogue and achieve peace," the presidency said in ‌a statement on X, which did not provide details on the defence accord. The statement cited him as saying that Turkey and Qatar were working to develop and diversify ⁠their ​energy partnership, and that ⁠their cooperation in the defence industry would continue to grow.

"President Erdogan stated that the Mutual ⁠Defence Agreement signed today by Turkey and Qatar would add another dimension to our ​brotherhood," it added. In August, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed ⁠a joint defence agreement in Mecca, bringing together the Sunni Muslim US allies at a time ⁠of ​conflict across the region.

Turkey's parliament ratified the so-called Mecca Joint Defence Agreement last week, clearing the way for Ankara to send military ⁠support to Saudi Arabia, which has been struggling to fend off attacks by ⁠Yemen's Iran-backed ⁠Houthi militants. Under the agreement, signed by the three regional powers in August, an attack on one party constitutes an ‌attack ‌on all.