Turkey to deploy troops to Qatar

President Recep Erdogan of Turkey has ratified legislation, which were fast-tracked by its parliament, to deploy Turkish troops to Qatar. The training and assistance mission will boost the "security of the entire region," the Qatari foreign minister said amid a diplomatic rift with its Gulf neighbors.

Erdogan signed off on the Turkish Parliament's approval late Thursday night, after earlier criticizing the Arab nations which had moved to isolate Qatar over its alleged support of terrorism, the presidential office said in a statement.

"Turkish troops are coming to Qatar for the sake of the securıty of the entire region," Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told the press on Thursday, as cited by Hurriyet.

Up to 5,000 Turkish soldiers might be deployed to Qatar under the new legislation, Rudaw news reports, adding that the troops are...