FIFA World Cup organisers estimate that about 1.5 million visitors will attend the football event.
Qatari and Turkish delegations held a meeting in Doha on Sunday to discuss security matters in preparation for hosting the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 later this year.
The Qatari delegation was led by head of Security and Safety Operations Committee for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansari, while the Turkish delegations was headed by Deputy Interior Minister Muhterem Ince, Anadolu Agency reported.
The meetings tapped into various aspects of joint cooperation during the major tournament, due to be held this November.
In January, Turkish Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu said his country will temporarily send 3,250 security officers to Qatar for the sporting event. Those to be deployed during the tournament include 3,000 riot police officers, 100 Turkish special forces, 50 bomb detection dogs and their operators, 50 bomb experts and other staff – all of whom will be on duty for some 45 days.
Soylu also added that Ankara has also trained 677 Qatari security personnel in 38 different professional areas, without providing further details on the specificities, according to Al Jazeera.
The Qatari and Turkish interior ministries had previously signed an agreement to join efforts in organising the much anticipated major event. One such effort includes Turkey’s participation in the security organisation of the World Cup 2022.
Qatar-Turkey joint efforts
In December 2021, the annual Qatar-Turkey Supreme Strategic Committee meeting took place in Doha, co-chaired by the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Some 15 new agreements were signed between the two countries in various fields including trade, investment, development, culture, youth, sports, security, media among others.
Qatar News Agency (QNA) and Turkey’s Anadolu Agency (AA) also signed an agreement to enhance the “bonds of professional cooperation” and boost quality of content.
In recent years, Doha and Ankara have inked over 60 agreements, of which includes positioning Turkish forces in Qatar at the Khalid bin Al-Walid Base. The base opened in December 2019.
By the end of 2018, trade volume between the two countries increased by 57%, compared to 2017, and reached a level of approximately QAR 5 billion.
By 2020, Qatar’s total investments in Turkey reached $22 billion, with 533 Turkish companies operating in the Gulf country in numerous projects that are worth at least $18.5 billion. In turn, 179 Qatari companies currently operate in Turkey.
The bilateral trade volume between the two sides reached QAR 6.8 billion last year.
