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Nobody is interested in fueling Gulf crisis - Turkish president

"The Muslim countries need cooperation and unity, not separation," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said

ANKARA, July 23. /TASS/. Not a single country is interested in fueling the crisis in relations between several Arab countries and Qatar, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a news conference in Istanbul before the departure for Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

"Nobody is interested in having this situation continue," he said. "The Muslim countries need cooperation and unity, not separation."

Erdogan heads for a two-day trip to pay visits to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar. It is exactly "Riyadh, who is responsible for settlement of the crisis," he said. "Turkey appreciates the role Kuwait is playing as a mediator." On Monday, the president will go to Doha, where he will also "discuss the situations in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya."

On June 5, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Doha in retaliation for what they described as Qatar’s support for terrorism and extremism, its hostile policy and intervention in the affairs of Arab states. Doha dismissed the allegations as groundless.

Some countries announced they had taken a series of other measures, including the termination of sea and air communication, the suspension of banking transactions and the expulsion of Qatari diplomats and citizens. On June 22, four Arab states advanced 13 demands to Qatar for restoring relations and gave it a 10-day deadline to comply with them.

On July 5, the deadline expired, but Doha’s response handed via Kuwait was met with regret by the boycotting nations. They vowed to continue their political and economic pressure on Qatar until it changes its policy.

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Recep Tayyip Erdogan Qatar

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The Collective Security Treaty came into force on April 20, 1994 to herald the emergence what would eventually become the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The six member-countries are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan

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