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King Salman, Turkey’s Erdogan Discuss Latest Developments in Phone Call | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi King Salman review a guard of honor during a welcoming ceremony in Ankara, Turkey April 12, 2016. ( Reuters)


Jeddah, Ankara – The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz on Tuesday received a phone call from Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

During the call, the two leaders reviewed bilateral relations and means to endorse them, in all domains, in addition to discussing regional developments.

Erdogan had also spoke over the phone with the leaders of Qatar, Kuwait, Russia and Saudi Arabia on lowering tension, presidential sources said, after Arab powers cut ties with Qatar.

Erdogan “has initiated diplomatic efforts to resolve this dispute between friends and brothers in line with the spirit of the holy month of Ramadan,” spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in a statement late Tuesday.

Turkey confirmed that it will continue its efforts to find a solution to the crisis on severing relations with Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen and a number of other countries through dialogue.

More so, Ankara said that it is not possible to allow the destabilization of relations between countries, while the local opposition demanded the Turkish government remains uninvolved in the crisis.

In a speech to his ruling party’s legislators Tuesday, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim called on Gulf states to resolve the crisis through negotiation, reiterating Turkey’s preparedness to do what is necessary to heal the divide.

“We will continue our active stance in order to develop a friendly dialogue that would suit the holy month of Ramadan,” Yildirim said.

On the other hand, Turkey’s main opposition CHP party leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, said that both Erdogan’s ruling party and Qatar must halt their support for the Muslim Brotherhood, and demanded that his country’s government remains outside the conflict.

“We must maintain our policy path with the Arab world and we should not be a party in emerging differences,” he said in a speech to a meeting of his party’s parliamentary bloc on Tuesday.

Kilicdaroglu stressed the need for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to move away from policies supporting extremist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood.

“Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE view the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, and you (AKP) make it a symbol of the party. This is unacceptable.”

“Saudi Arabia, in addition to six other countries, cut off relations with Qatar because of its support of terrorism.

They called on Qatari citizens living in their lands to leave. Look at the situation that the Islamic world has reached because of the practices of some countries,” he said.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed their ties with Qatar on Monday over its involvement and support of groups that undermine the region’s security.