Turkey says demands to shut Qatar base ‘unrealistic’ – reports

Ankara has dismissed as “unrealistic” demands to close a military base in Qatar as sought by a Saudi-led bloc caught up in a row with the emirate, reports said on Tuesday. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the presence of Turkish troops in the gas-rich Gulf country was not connected to the ongoing crisis between the Arab countries, according to AFP. “We believe this demand is both unrealistic and irrelevant,” the minister was quoted as saying by Qatar’s pro-government Al-Watan and Qatar Tribune newspapers. Turkey and Qatar had signed a defense agreement in 2014, “long before the Gulf crisis,” he added. Cavusoglu also said the diplomatic impasse should be resolved without delay. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt called for the closure of the Tariq bin Ziyad camp in Doha as part of conditions to end their diplomatic and political isolation of Qatar. It is thought that 3,000 Turkish troops are on Qatari soil and that the base has a capacity for up to 5,000 military personnel.