DOHA (Dispatches) – France has called on a Saudi-led quartet of Arab countries to immediately lift sanctions on Qatari nationals as an unprecedented diplomatic rift between the so-called siege states and the Persian Gulf’s peninsular country increasingly deepens.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian made the remarks in a joint press conference with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in the Qatari capital, Doha, in an attempt to heal the month-long rift in the Persian Gulf region.
"France calls for the lifting, as soon as possible, of the measures that affect the populations in particular, bi-national families that have been separated or students,” the minister said.
The growing crisis unfolded on June 5, when Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt severed ties with Qatar, officially accusing Doha of supporting "terrorism" and destabilizing the Middle East, allegations that Qatar says are unjustified and stem from false claims and assumptions.
To further pressure Qatar, Saudi Arabia has totally closed its land border with its tiny neighbor, through which much of Qatar's food supply crossed.
Later in June, the four Arab countries urged Qatar to abide by a 13-point list of demands if it wanted the crippling blockade lifted. The demands included shutting down the Doha-based Al Jazeera broadcaster, scaling back cooperation with Iran, closing the Turkish military base in Qatar, and paying an unspecified sum in reparations.
The defiant Doha government, however, strongly refused to comply, calling the wide-ranging demands "unrealistic, unreasonable and unacceptable." In return, the four feuding countries vowed to impose further sanctions on Doha.
Le Drian, who arrived in Qatar a few hours before the press conference, intends to begin a Persian Gulf tour aimed at defusing the unprecedented crisis through holding talks with leaders of the involved countries, particularly Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Meanwhile, Turkey and Qatar have insisted Ankara will keep a new military base in the emirate, rejecting demands from other Persian Gulf countries for the facility to be closed.
"No country has the right to raise the issue of the Turkish base or the military cooperation between Qatar and Turkey as long as this cooperation respects international law," Qatar Foreign Minister Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told reporters in Ankara.
Speaking after meeting Al Thani, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the demands to close the base "go against the two countries' sovereignty.
"A third country has no right to say something to Qatar or Turkey. Everyone must respect this," he added.
Cavusoglu added that until now, there had been "no objections" over the base, Turkey's first military facility in the Persian Gulf region.
The crisis has put Turkey in a delicate position since Qatar is its main ally in the Persian Gulf, but Ankara does not want to antagonize key regional power Saudi Arabia.