Baku, Azerbaijan, June 12
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:
Turkey is under pressure for supporting Qatar and opposing the forces aimed at changing the political map of the [Middle East] region, Mahir Unal, press secretary of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), said June 12.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE announced about breaking their diplomatic relations with Qatar June 5, accusing Doha of supporting terrorist organizations and destabilizing the situation in the Middle East.
Later, the authorities of Libya, Yemen, as well as the Maldives and Mauritius also announced about severing diplomatic relations with Qatar.
Unal noted that the countries of the region are experiencing crises, and if Turkey hadn’t been strong, the crises in Iraq and Syria could have spread to Turkey as well.
Syria has been suffering from an armed conflict since March 2011, which, according to the UN, has claimed over 500,000 lives.
Militants from various armed groups are confronting the Syrian government troops. The IS, YPG and PYD are the most active terrorist groups in Syria.
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