Ankara and Doha Sign Joint Defense Agreement at 12th High Strategic Committee

Turkey and Qatar signed a joint defense agreement at the conclusion of the 12th session of the Turkish-Qatari High Strategic Committee, held in Istanbul under the chairmanship of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Qatari newspapers reported that the agreement aims to strengthen military cooperation, and that the committee signed alongside it other cooperation documents in the fields of consumer protection, market regulation, education, peacebuilding and reconciliation, and dispute settlement.

The joint statement issued by the committee pointed to the two countries' will to take a joint stance against any external armed attack and to strengthen regional security. What was published about the meeting did not include the text of the defense agreement or its scope; the announced material is limited to its signing and to describing it as aimed at strengthening military cooperation.

Analyses published by the Al Jazeera network and The Peninsula newspaper linked the timing of the agreement to the continuing fallout of the war between the United States and Iran. They noted that states in the Middle East are moving toward new defense partnerships, in an effort to raise military deterrence capabilities and reduce dependence on external powers.

Abdullah Al-Otaibi, a professor in the Department of International Relations at Qatar University, said that the possibility of renewed military escalation in the region is pushing states to strengthen their defense capabilities. Middle East affairs expert Mahjoob Zweiri held that the agreement reflects the high level of mutual trust between Doha and Ankara, and that joint production in the defense industry shows relations moving to a further stage. The analyses added that Turkey's military and technical capabilities and Qatar's economic and diplomatic potential complement one another.

Al-Sharq newspaper published a file prepared by the Qatar News Agency (QNA) affirming that the High Strategic Committee, established in 2014, forms the institutional foundation for political, economic and security cooperation between the two countries, and that relations have not remained confined to political coordination but have extended to the defense industry, technology, investment and diplomatic mediation. The newspaper said that current regional and international circumstances make close coordination between the two countries more important than ever.

The reports addressed what the joint statement contained regarding the two countries' decision to continue coordination to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and rebuild the Strip, and a joint call to resolve differences between Washington and Tehran through diplomatic means, to re-secure navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, and to respect the sovereignty of the region's states. It also carried messages on diversifying the energy partnership and developing trade relations.