Saudi-Egypt axis cuts ties to isolate Qatar

A group of Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia and Egypt cut ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing the gas-rich Gulf country of supporting extremism, while a number of regional and global actors, including Turkey and the U.S., called for dialogue to resolve the dispute.

Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and the Maldives joined the duo in severing relations with gas-rich Qatar, accusing Doha of harboring "terrorist and sectarian groups that aim to destabilize the region including the Muslim Brotherhood, Daesh [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - ISIL] and al-Qaeda."

Qatar reacted with fury, denying any support for extremists and accusing its Gulf neighbors of seeking to put the country under "guardianship."

Qatar hosts the largest U.S. airbase in the region, which is crucial to operations against ISIL.

Ankara has urged dialogue and continued contacts between Gulf countries in a bid to resolve the unprecedented crisis, while expressing Turkey's "sadness" over the incident.

"Dialogue should be continued under any condition so that problems can be resolved peacefully. We feel saddened by this current picture. We can give all sort of support for the normalization of the situation," Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said at a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel. 

Çavuşoğlu recalled that Turkey regards the "unity and togetherness" of the Gulf countries as equal to Turkey's own unity, while underlining the need of solidarity of all regional countries in the fight against terror, radicalism and Islamophobia.  

The Foreign Ministry issued a separate statement on the development. "Turkey, as a responsible actor in its region and as term president of the Organization of Islamic...

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