(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Anadolu Agency
Ankara: It is wrong to link the issue of Turkey's base in Qatar with the ongoing crisis in the Gulf, Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said yesterday.
Speaking to reporters following a Cabinet meeting in Ankara, Kurtulmus said: 'Linking the Gulf crisis with the Turkish base is wrong. The tension and dispute between the Gulf countries is completely irrelevant to the base.
'Turkey's military base in Qatar is not just for Qatar's security, but for the security of the whole Gulf area. Turkey has a base there as part of the area's safety. The presence of Turkish soldiers will remain.
The deputy premier also said the crisis could also hit other countries if steps were not taken to resolve it.
He described the feud as an "artificially-created crisis" and said the 13 demands its neighbours had imposed on Qatar were too stiff for any country to accept.
"If this crisis is allowed to deepen, then not just one country but all of the countries of the region would pay the price," Kurtulmus said.
'Associating the political crisis with Saudi Arabia-Qatar crisis is wrong. If this gets deeper, the toll of the crisis will take on all of the countries in the area, one way or the other.
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