A strategic partnership that helps broaden horizons

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began his official visit to Qatar during which he met His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at the Amiri Diwan and discussed the growing strategic relations between the two countries and ways to support them, developing them towards broader horizons and promising new fields, and exchanged views on regional and international developments of common interest in a way that contributes to regional and global security and stability.
The president’s visit coincides with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and this year marks the centenary of the founding of the Republic of Turkiye. His visit and talks will spur bilateral relations to the highest levels and raise the level of trade exchange between the two countries.
Turkish Vice-President Cevdet Yilmaz visited Doha on July 8, during which he met His Highness the Amir and discussed co-operation between the two countries and ways to enhance it, especially in economy and investment.
Qatar and Turkiye enjoy strong fraternal relations and a well-established strategic partnership. Over the past few years, the two countries’ relations have witnessed advanced development especially in the political, military and economic fields. The two countries have strengthened these distinguished relations by signing many bilateral agreements, protocols, and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) covering co-operation in various fields, which fostered an atmosphere of continuity and growth in the two countries’ relations.
The Qatari-Turkish partnership is considered one of the most successful partnerships in the world currently. It has reached this level of strategic partnership thanks to the strong political will of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim and President Erdogan, deriving its activity and strength from historical ties and solidarity between the two countries and their people as well as the unlimited solidarity between them in times of crises, the unique convergence of views on many regional and international issues, the harmony of political visions on many files, and both countries share political positions that adopt dialogue, diplomacy, and mediation as a basis for security, stability, peace, and resolving international and regional disputes.
Last October, the Amir and the Turkish president chaired the 8th session of the Qatari-Turkish Supreme Strategic Committee at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul. During the meeting, they discussed the strong strategic relations in various fields, especially political, trade, economic and investment partnership, energy, industry, transportation, education, and media, in addition to strengthening co-operation in the health and tourism sector and projects related to hosting the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The two sides also exchanged views on the latest developments on the regional and international arenas and a number of agreements and MoUs were signed.
Since signing the joint declaration regarding the establishment of the Qatari-Turkish Supreme Strategic Committee on December 19, 2014, the eight sessions held under the co-chairmanship of His Highness the Amir and the Turkish president witnessed the signing of 95 agreements and documents covering many areas of co-operation.
There is no doubt that the results of the intensive mutual visits between the leaders and senior officials of the two countries, and the regular meetings of the Supreme Strategic Committee, reflect the common desire to deepen bilateral relations and the full, permanent coordination between the two parties regarding prominent global issues.
As evidence of the strong Qatari-Turkish fraternal relations, Qatar came to rescue and assist Turkiye in the disastrous earthquake that struck parts of Turkiye and Syria in February. Qatar harnessed all capabilities to provide relief to those affected by this disaster. His Highness the Amir visited Turkiye, where he met the president to show Qatar’s support for the Turkish and Syrian brotherly peoples at the highest level.
Since the disaster struck, Turkiye has received more than 1,000 tonnes of humanitarian assistance through more than 50 flights within the scope of the airbridge that Qatar established with Turkiye. The Qatari-Turkish container homes established in Hatay have become a significant sign of fraternity between the people of the two countries.
In an economic context, Qatar and Turkiye have strong relations that witnessed great prosperity in recent years in various fields and activities. These relations have culminated in agreements in the energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, military equipment, and tourism fields. Turkiye is one of Qatar’s most important trading partners, with the volume of trade exchange between the two countries in 2022 witnessing a growth of 18% to reach QR8bn, compared to QR6.8bn in 2021. There are about 182 companies with Qatari capital in Turkiye with a value of $33.2bn. Meanwhile, more than 711 Turkish companies operate in Qatar, including 664 companies with Qatari and Turkish capital and 47 companies with 100% Turkish capital, in addition to 15 Turkish companies operating in the free zone in Qatar. The Qatar Investment Authority currently has three Mega projects in Turkiye.
Qatar is considered one of the largest foreign investors in Turkiye and, in recent years, the Qatari private sector has recorded a remarkable presence in several Turkish investment fields such as real estate, contracting, tourism, manufacturing, media, finance, and health with investments reaching about $33bn by the end of 2020.
Qatar Chamber continuously hosts many Turkish delegations and participated in a number of important Turkish economic events, during which it discussed ways to enhance trade and investment co-operation between the two countries. The relations between Qatari businessmen and their Turkish counterparts are described as distinct, as each side participates in all events and exhibitions organised by the other side, and there are joint investments by Qatari and Turkish businessmen in a number of countries of the world.
CEO of Qatar Press Centre (QPC) Sadiq Mohamed al-Amari said in remarks to Qatar News Agency (QNA), that among the reasons for the continuous development in relations between Qatar and Turkiye is the presence of many elements that contributed to achieving this level of political rapprochement and economic integration, especially the relations that are distinguished by strategic strength, the broad understanding in many issues and flashpoints in the region and the world and the agreement of the two countries leaders on the deep view of the situation and the clear vision of how to achieve global security and stability in light of a turbulent world governed by narrow interests and temporary benefits.
In addition, the two countries possess many advantages that qualify them to build stronger relations and broader alliances, which contributes to enabling Doha and Ankara to achieve tangible successes in many thorny issues that still pose a threat to global stability.
He pointed out that one of the most important factors contributing to the distinction of relations is the shared belief in the need to develop co-operation in various fields, especially in the economy, foreign policy, defence, and the common vision of the risks and interests that drive them towards increasing co-operation in the future, which was reflected in the establishment of the Supreme Strategic Committee in December 2014, which witnessed, during its previous meetings, the signing of dozens of agreements in various fields.
Regarding the extent to which the Qatari-Turkish relations contribute to supporting balance in the region, facing many challenges and laying the foundations for security and peace, al-Amari highlighted that the two countries are convinced that strengthening their relations would contribute to creating a regional power that works to achieve balance in the region, noting that this is evident in the convergence of views regarding the Palestinian issue and the easing of tension between the world powers, in addition to their efforts to end the Russian-Ukrainian war, mitigate its humanitarian and economic effects on the world, and the conviction of Doha and Ankara that the world needs rational voices that see matters in terms of common interests, and that this can only be achieved through rational and balanced dialogue that preserves the interests of all.
For his part, International Relations expert Dr Ahmed Mohamed Ghaith al-Kuwari said in similar remarks to QNA that the visit of President Erdogan to the country comes within the framework of the joint keenness to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries, and to launch to new horizons in light of the current developments in the region and the world.
Dr al-Kuwari considered that the strategic partnership between Qatar and Turkiye to be one of the most prominent and successful partnerships at the level of relations between countries, and this is due to many factors and common denominators that unite the two countries and the two brotherly peoples, indicating that one of the factors for the success of the Qatari-Turkish relations and their reaching the stage of strategic partnership are the orientations and principles that govern these relations and lead them towards achieving common interests and promoting peace, stability and development in the region and the world, as well as the common visions on various issues and positions of solidarity at various levels.
The international relations expert highlighted that the challenges that the region and the world went through during the past two decades demonstrated the depth of the Qatari-Turkish relations and their success in facing these challenges through the high-level co-ordination, which contributed to resolving many crises and building peace, especially at the regional level. (QNA)