Qatar's FM meets Erdogan in Turkey

The visit comes weeks after the Turkish foreign minister was in Qatar where a joint Turkish-Russian effort to end the war in Syria was revealed.

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul on Saturday, Qatar News Agency [QNA] reported.

Al Thani and the Turkish leader discussed bilateral relations as well as the latest regional developments, mainly in Syria and Libya.

“Qatar and Turkey are working very closely together to continue the strong partnership between the two countries. Great to be in Istanbul and meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to discuss a number of issues of common interest,” Qatar’s foreign minister tweeted.

The visit comes weeks after Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu arrived in Doha, where he, along with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, announced the latest peace initiative to end the decade-long war in Syria.

“The Syrian regime must be pressured to break the deadlock in the current situation,” said the Turkish diplomat at a joint press conference earlier in March following a trilateral meeting with Russia and Qatar.

At the time, the diplomats said they believe the war can only be resolved through political means, Cavusoglu added, stressing the need to “preserve sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity in the UN Charter”.

In a joint statement published after the meeting, the trio “reaffirmed their position” in cooperating with the UN’s envoy to Syria and delegates of the Constitutional Committee to “ensure its sustainable and effective work to achieve a Constitutional reform”.

“[The three countries] emphasised the need to increase humanitarian assistance to all Syrians throughout the country without discrimination, politicisation and preconditions in order to support improving the humanitarian situation in Syria,” added the statement.

They are working to ensure the return of Syrian refugees to their lands as well as cooperating with confidence-building initiatives between Syrian parties to release detainees.

“We agreed to use our opportunities to ensure that the next meeting of the editorial commission of the Constitutional Committee, which should take place before the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan [in mid-April], will be productive,” revealed Lavrov.

Istanbul is also set to host an upcoming senior-level meeting next month in efforts to push forward the stalled intra-Afghan talks.

The upcoming Turkey conference follows another high-level meeting held in Moscow on March 18th, which saw Russia, the US, China and Pakistan call for an immediate ceasefire to put an end to the ongoing conflict between the government and Taliban.

So far, the Afghan government confirmed its attendance, where President Ashraf Ghani is expected to propose a new peace plan.

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