Gulf Cooperation Council

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on June 7 that Gulf states could resolve a row with Qatar amongst themselves without outside help.

"We have not asked for mediation, we believe this issue can be dealt with among the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council," he told a news conference with his German counterpart in Berlin broadcast on Saudi state television.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates have broken diplomatic relations with Qatar, rattling a powerful 36-year-old Gulf states union, over what they say is the country’s support of terrorism. Egypt has also cut off relations with the tiny Gulf state.

The Turkish Limak Holding and its Kuwaiti partner, Al-Kharafi International, laid the foundation stone for a $4.3 billion airport terminal project - the largest tender won abroad in a single package by Turkish contractors - with a ceremony in the Gulf country on May 9.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on May 8 said he aimed to boost economic and military ties with Arab Gulf states, as talks on a free trade zone deal pushed ahead.

Erdoğan, who is expected in Kuwait on May 9, said Ankara was involved in "high level strategic dialogue" with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the state-run KUNA news agency reported.

Oil-exporting Arab states of the Gulf are heading "in the right direction" to plug budgetary gaps thanks to fiscal reforms, but more change is still necessary, the International Monetary Fund said on May 2.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Iran on April 7 to help end wars in Yemen and Syria, where Tehran and its Gulf Arab rivals are backing opposing sides.
 
On the first visit by a U.S. chief diplomat to Bahrain since 2010, Kerry also told authorities in Manama accused of discriminating against the country's Shiite majority that respect for human rights was "essential".

Weak oil prices pose a threat to Gulf Arab states' currency pegs against the dollar, but the energy-rich region is unlikely to abandon the policy yet, analysts say.

Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates all keep the values of their currencies fixed against the greenback, while Kuwait has a link to a basket of currencies including the dollar.

Gulf monarchies on March 2 declared Lebanon's Hezbollah a "terrorist" group, in the latest regional move against the Shiite organisation fighting in support of Syria's regime.

Washington has agreed to speed up arms sales to Gulf states, US Secretary of State John Kerry announced on August 3 after talks in Doha on their concerns over the Iran nuclear deal.

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Qatar on August 2 for talks with his Gulf Arab counterparts on the next leg of a regional tour to ease allies' concerns over the Iran nuclear deal.