(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Moscow January 20 (QNA) - HE the Foreign Minister Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah has underlined the importance of the visit HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani has paid to Russia praising the Russian-Qatari relations.
In an interview with Russia Today TV Channel (RT) HE Al Attiyah said "Undoubtedly they are long standing relations that need renewal from time to time through contacts. Recently I had been in Moscow and met with my counterpart Sergey Lavrov to discuss bilateral relations and these contacts have been culminated by the meeting between HH the Emir and the Russian President."
Al-Attiyah said "it is right that the visit has been postponed for certain circumstances at that time but however we have the conviction that Russia is a big player in the region and due to its relations with the Arab world it could be an assisting factor in finding solutions to the crises the region in going through.'' He confirmed that ''Qatar doesn't build relations with states on the basis of speculations. We have our way of dealing with the states which we agree or differ with.
That are negotiations frankness and transparency and that for us in Qatar is the shortest way to find solution to problems. I don't conceal from you that we have been surprised by the Russian intervention in Syria in last September and we had been keen that Russia would remain beside the Syrian people as we always hope to remain beside the Syrian people however we are convinced that Russia which maintains a historical relation with the Arab countries could find a solution to the Syrian crisis for which many innocent people were victimized just because that called for their freedom and the justice that has been lost for fifty years.
Dr. Al Attiyah stressed that military intervention has never been one day a key to solving crisis. ''Throughout history we know that military intervention complicates matters rather than solves them. We have constants or matters agreed upon with Russia and we have no doubt that Russia support a unified Arab and civil Syria. These are the constants on which we agree now" he said Dr. Al Attiyah explained that differences lie in the definition of Syrian people's option.
However through dialogue with Russian officials and exchange of visits we will come to the definition of the Syrian people's option adding "We in Qatar have a definition for the Syrian people's option that we may agree or differ on with the friends in Russia. Our definition is the departure of the regime which was the cause of terrorism as it worked as a magnet to attract terrorism on one hand and on the other this regime worked to kill the hope of the youth who demonstrate peacefully.
I will give you a simple example. Syrian youth Ghayyath Mattar took to street at the outbreak of the revolution if I am not mistaken on 8 September 2011 and began to distribute roses to the Syrian army. After one day of torture he was handed over a dead body to his family saying such stories should not be absent from our minds when we speak about the demands of the Syrian people or leave the option for that people to decide.'' HE the Foreign Minister underlined that the State of Qatar has spared no effort to convince the head of the Syrian regime to take positive steps towards his people. ''Qatar effectively started on 27 March 2011 to have direct contacts on all levels with the head of the Syrian regime and there were contacts and visits on the highest level in an attempt to dissuade him from his way of dealing with the demonstrators and to urge him make few reforms which the Syrian people was then ready to accept'' Dr. Al Attiya said.
He noted that at the beginning of the revolution they were chanting the name of Bashar Al Assad as they wanted few reforms and little respect from the governors who oppressed people in the Syrian cities. They demanded few reforms that Bashar Al Assad could have made but regrettably he relied on the security treatment of matters.
HE the Foreign Minister said the Syrian regime embarrassed even its allies. It embarrassed Iran and Hezbollah and is now trying to embarrass Russia to change its relations with the Arab world and it should pay attention to this issue because it is very serious. Our friends in Russia should be aware of this because the (regime) managed to change the views of Hezbollah and the look of the Arab people towards it as a resisting party. From the Arabs point of view it has become a hostile party to the people that helped it during its plight in 2006 and shared with Hezbollah their food and closing. However the Qatar stances and principles remained unchanged.
Speaking to RT HE the Foreign Minister Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah strongly denied claims that Qatar aims at getting rid of a regime which was considered as an obstacle to a strategic project for the delivery of Qatari gas to Europe adding that whoever adopts such an argument is not well briefed.
He stressed that Qatar has no agenda and no interest in displacing regimes noting that Qatar has intensely urged Bashar al-Assad to implement change but he has no culture of settlement towards his people this is what led to a disaster in Syria.
On the existence of an agenda in Qatar HE Al-Attiyah stressed that this is not true as Qatar has the world's largest floating LNG facility noting that such claims are baseless.
On the Turkish-Russian relations HE Al-Attiyah said the two countries share one hundred years of excellent relations therefore the two leaderships' wisdom will not allow them to return a hundred years ago. We are counting a lot on this relationship in order to reach a Russian-Turkish solution he said adding that the differences will be resolved based on both sides' diplomacy and statesmanship.
As the biggest exporters of gas in the world Russia and Qatar complement each other are not competitors in energy sector and have a moral and legal duty to maintain gas supply to the global market.
There should be a distinction between Qatar's investments abroad and the question of influence explained Dr. Al Attiyah referring to Qatar National Vision ( QNV) 2030 developed under the wise leadership of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and aimed at advancing Qatari citizen and managing on a sustainable path for future generations thanks to investment bodies.
We also have a legal and moral duty in international peace and security as Qatar is a member state of the United Nations therefore we always keep our principle initiative to resolve crisis by peaceful and diplomatic means and defuse crisis in the region which would affect us either directly or indirectly Dr. Al Attiyah went on saying.
If the alternative is solar energy we are ready to export solar energy as we are the richest country with solar energy in the world we bear in mind that this energy is ephemeral so we work in accordance with Qatar National Vision towards building a diversified economy and achieving sustainable development and therefore help to secure a high standard of living for future generations Dr. Al Attiyah added.
Ensure security health and education for all citizens is our main focus and we are working hard to diversify our sources Dr. Al Attiyah added in this context.
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) comprises a system to develop the standard of living for the GCC citizens in terms of services and education as well as upgrade their role through various projects that rely on diverse sources.
HE Dr. Al Attiyah said Qatar does not believe in the conspiracy theory noting that GCC states are thankfully very stable and have development thanks to wise leadership and proper planning.
HE the foreign minister said in any world country security always comes first and military capacity or security technical equipment are considered a shield for the sword of growth prosperity and development which means HE added military spending in the region does not and did not affect development. He said that comparing the living standard of Gulf individuals to their counterparts in other countries that have the same capacity and expertise if not more it would be clear that many of their citizens live under poverty.
On relations with Iran HE Al Attiyah said Qatar does not have a bilateral discord with Iran noting that the disagreement is regional rather than bilateral. He added that the Gulf and Qatar in particular welcomed the nuclear deal because it has always urged friends in the West to reach a peaceful settlement for the Iranian nuclear program. He said that Qatar demands that the whole Middle East region not just Iran becomes free of weapons of mass destruction.
As for the Palestinian issue Al Attiyah said it remains the core issue and any side whether terrorist groups or countries that interferes in the region does that under the pretext of defending Al Aqsa Mosque or Palestinians although no one moved for Palestinians.
The Qatari foreign minister stressed that for Qatar Palestine remains one of the priorities and that is why it works tirelessly to contain the Gaza Strip and avoid its explosion after it was isolated from the world and sieged from all directions noting that Qatar always works to develop Gaza and construct projects that benefit Gazan citizens.
HE Al Attiyah added that Qatar always works to lift the blockade and end settlement in the West Bank and Jerusalem expressing hope that Qatar's friends and Russia play an active role in lifting the blockade ending settlement and stopping the Judaization of Jerusalem. He added that solving the Palestinian issue will settle Middle East crises and there will not be a justification for those who interfere in the region under the pretext of defending Palestine.
He said that many Arab countries are busy exerting efforts in other areas but added that he believes if the focus was placed on the core issue all other issues including internal ones for some countries would be resolved.
HE the foreign minister said the initiative that was proposed by Saudi Arabia in 2003 was not accepted by Israel which opened the door for anyone that wanted to interfere in the region stressing that Arab countries are the ones who deserve to take care of the Palestinian issue.
Dr. Al Attiyah stressed the call for just and comprehensive peace that returns rights to their owners noting that any initiative that leads to that peace is backed by the Arab world.
In his interview with RT HE Dr. Al Attiyah said Qatar is keen on a prosperous and stable relationship between Moscow and Ankara for the benefit of regional stability because the two countries are heavyweights and their rapprochement reflects positively on the Middle East. He added that Qatar is not waiting for any side to ask for its intervention and it will always take the initiative to bring views closer if it thinks the move would benefit the region.
He expressed his optimism that this gloom would end thanks to the diplomatic statesmanship of the Turkish and Russian leaders adding that it is not diplomatic talk when he says that the ties between Russia and Turkey will not be affected.
Dr. Al Attiyah said looking at the tangles in social relations between the Russians and the Turks shows that a solution is definitely soon because for two countries of such weight who know they are the main factor in the stability of the region and with their diplomatic skills they can only go in the right direction in an effort to come closer and dispel these fears.
Asked about normalizing relations between Egypt and Turkey HE Dr. Al Attiyah said what applies to Russia and Turkey applies to Egypt and Turkey but he added that he does not know about a visit to Ankara by an Egyptian delegation. He noted that Qatar always wants stability in the region and such stability he said will not be attained without good relations between all sides.
On international reports about human rights violations in Qatar HE the foreign minister said whoever knows the Qatari people knows its nature. The Qatari people he added is conservative and hospitable and would never treat inhumanely someone who came to the country to help in its development. He added that the talk about labor rights started to emerge only after Russia won the right to host the 2018 World Cup and Qatar won the right to host the 2022 World Cup noting that a lot of countries did not like that the hosting right is won by a country like Russia or an Arab Middle Eastern and Muslim country like Qatar.
HE Dr. Al Attiyah said Qatar has the best laws to protect labor rights and when there is criticism he added the country benefits from it if it was constructive and works to correct the mistakes if there were any.
In the past two years HE the foreign minister said Qatar took several measures to improve and develop the laws that take care of the rights of expats.
He stressed that Qatar did not prevent any media outlets or human rights groups from coming to the country but noted that this applies to organizations that want to see the truth and see reality as it is not as they want it to be.
HE Dr. Al Attiyah that there noted that are joint committees between Russia and Qatar which will begin their work soon on cooperation in the technical field so that the two countries could benefit from mutual experiences.
HE the Minister added: "Qatar is well known for hosting a host of tournaments and the same applies to Russia which has a lot of technical experiences that could be offered to Qatar and vice versa Qatar also has considerable experience in the organizing such events and there will be great cooperation for the success of World Cups 2018 and 2022 which would be best tournaments HE the Minister asserted He pointed out that Qatari sports facilities have been designed on basis of being dismantled into parts including stadiums that overflowing Qatari public need by the end of the tournament in order to be sent to the neediest countries and we'll build sports facilities in the countries that need development support not on commercial basis and I am sure that the SC Committee which supervises the World Cup 2022 has begun to work with the countries benefiting from these grants we in Qatar do not initiate humanitarian action in order to get a return HE the Minister underlined.
He said we won the organization of the World Cup 2022 on the grounds that we have offered the best bidding file . HE the Minister said Qatar is always active member in the international community by extending a helping hand to countries and people that need support as much as possible. " Regarding the Qataris kidnapped in Iraq HE Dr. Al-Attiyah said we regretted what had happened to our people in Iraq who went there because they like Iraq although they were able to go to other places but the result of their love for Iraq as an Arab country. He said the abductees had obtained official entry visas from the Iraqi embassy in Qatar under the supervision of the Iraqi Interior Ministry in the protection and hospitality governor of Muthanna Province in Iraq. " "The Qataris abducted in Iraq had gone to their people where they were kidnapped .
HE the Minister said adding that HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al -Thani had immediately instructed an official Qatari delegation to go to Iraq on Wednesday when the Qataris were kidnapped same day in the afternoon the delegation arrived in Baghdad. " HE the Foreign Minister: "We had contacted the Iraqi government on the grounds that the safety of the kidnapped are the responsibility of the Iraqi government we also contacted a number of friends in order to get the required technologies. He said we have an idea about the kidnappers and we are still waiting for an answer from the Iraqi government on the steps taken to ensure the safety of Qatari nationals and bring them back to Qatar. "
On Iran's mediation in this issue HE Dr. Al-Attiyah said" There is no doubt that Iran has a role in helping to resolve this issue especially that Qatar stood with Iran and helped it in previous positions for the release of Iranian soldiers who were happened to be kidnapped thus we also expect the Iranian government would have a role in the release of Qatari nationals and we hope the brothers in the Iraqi government would make efforts in this area by moving its hovercraft and airplanes to prove that they are interested in Qatari citizens HE the Minister added.
Returning to Syria issue HE the Minister Dr. Al Attiyah stressed the importance of dialogue and exchange of views between Russia and Qatar pointing out that the ongoing meetings were important out of our conviction that Russia and Qatar could play a role in finding a solution to this crisis. (END)