Turkiye and ⁠⁠Qatar have signed a mutual defence agreement after a meeting between Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim ‌‌bin Hamad Al Thani in Istanbul on Friday.

“President Erdogan stated that we would continue working together to prevent ⁠⁠the resurgence of ⁠⁠war in the Gulf region and establish a basis ⁠⁠for dialogue and ⁠⁠achieve peace,” ⁠⁠the Turkish presidency said in a statement on X.

Erdogan’s office said the agreement would “add a new dimension to relations between Turkiye and Qatar”, while the Qatari Emir praised the deal as a “strategic partnership”.

In a post on X, Sheikh Tamim wrote that he “discussed ways to build on what has been achieved and identify priorities for joint action in the coming period” during talks with President Erdogan.

A statement by the Amiri Diwan said multiple agreements were signed by the two governments, including a memorandum of understanding “on cooperation in the field of peace, reconciliation and conflict resolution”.

Speaking to Global News Insight, security analyst Yusuf Alabarda said that since the start of the Iran war, countries in the region “are feeling the effects of the war and no one is feeling secure”.

“All the Gulf countries, but especially Qatar, understood that their security guarantees from the United States are not working properly. The Turkish troops in Qatar are very important but I can say that in the near term Turkish weapons and air defences might be deployed to Qatar to guarantee its safety, which is very important to Turkiye, so this agreement will help move forward these military deals,” Alabarda said.

Regional defence

In August, Turkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a regional defence pact under which the three countries would come to each other’s aid if one of them was attacked.

Ratified by the Turkish parliament last week, the pact links NATO member Turkiye, which has the alliance’s second-largest military, with Pakistan, the Muslim world’s only nuclear-armed state.

Turkiye has said the agreement is not aimed at any other country and remains open to other states, including Egypt.

In October, Qatar, Indonesia, Pakistan and Turkiye signed a multilateral memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation in Doha.

The agreement, known as “Badr”, aims to bolster cooperation between the participating countries.