Turkey Lines Up Behind Qatar as Gulf Crisis Fault Lines Deepen
- President Erdogan offers to take on role of peacemaker
- U.S. support for Saudi Arabia seen forcing Qatar to capitulate
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's president, center, attends a summit of world leaders in Brussels on May 25, 2017.
Photographer: Jasper Juinen/BloomberTurkey criticized Saudi-led efforts to isolate ally Qatar, deepening the fault lines in a crisis that has engulfed one of the world’s most strategically important regions.
In defending Qatar, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined a growing list of Middle East nations resisting Saudi Arabia’s push for a united regional front against the gas-rich emirate, whose maverick policies have vexed the kingdom for years. On Wednesday, the head of NATO’s second-largest army offered to try to mend the rift, which has created havoc at airports and seaports, and added new tinder to the already combustible Middle East by challenging the authority of Qatar’s ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.