Erdoğan, Qatar’s emir discuss regional escalation

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has hosted Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in the Turkish capital to discuss the growing regional escalation following Israel's killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.

Erdoğan and Al Thani had bilateral talks in the presidential compound on Aug. 8 in an unannounced visit of the latter. Apart from bilateral economic and trade issues, the leaders reviewed international and regional developments.

The two men met during a period of heightened regional tension, following Israel's assasination of Haniyeh and a key Hezbollah military leader in Southern Lebanon, which threatened to spread armed conflict throughout the area.

According to a statement by the Communication Directorate, Erdoğan has reiterated that the assassination of Haniyye has made once afaclear that Israel is not seeking peace.
Türkiye and Qatar continue to work for peace and stability in the region, Erdoğan stressed, adding they will increase mutual efforts to this end.
The Turkish President accused Israel of trying to escalate tension and spread the war, calling on the international community to take effective measures to prevent this dangerous trend.

Iran and Hezbollah vowed to retaliate in kind on Israel amid intense diplomatic traffic by the international community to defuse the tension and convince Iran for a calculated response to avoid a further escalation of the military conflict.

Türkiye and Qatar, having both good ties with Hamas and Iran, are in contact with relevant regional and Western powers to this end. Erdoğan and Al Thani discussed ways to deescalate tension and channel all the efforts back to the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

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