The Qatari-Turkish summit between His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of the country, and His Excellency Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during the sixth meeting of the Turkish-Qatari Supreme Strategic Committee, is the twenty-eighth summit between them, within seventy months, which is a record in the history of Relations between the two countries, and perhaps in the history of international relations.
The year 2020 witnessed two prominent summits, the first during President Erdogan’s visit to Doha, on July 2, and his first externally after the emergence of the “Corona” pandemic, and the visit was described at the time as exceptional. As for the second summit, it was on October 7, and also during a working visit by President Erdogan to Doha, which lasted for one day.
The relations between the two countries are witnessing development and diversity, at various levels, and the fifth meeting of the Joint Higher Strategic Committee represented the culmination of those distinguished relations, which provide a model for regional relations. After years of consensus and harmony, the Joint Strategic Committee was established in 2014, and five meetings were held equally between Qatar and Turkey.
During those meetings, 52 agreements and 5 joint statements were signed, and the number is expected to increase during the sixth meeting of the committee.
These agreements vary in the fields of economy, industry, defense, security, investment, energy, culture, intellectual property, education, youth, economy and other vital areas of cooperation.
Doha hosted the first session of the Joint Strategic Committee, in December 2015, while the second was held in the Turkish city of Trabzon in 2016, the third in Doha 2017, the fourth in Istanbul 2018, and the fifth in Doha 2019.
The fifth meeting, on November 25, 2019, witnessed the signing of seven agreements in the fields of economy, urbanization, trade, industry, technology and health sectors, as well as strategic planning, scientific cooperation and intellectual property.
These agreements contribute to strengthening and enriching bilateral political, economic, cultural and scientific relations between the two countries.
Every year, the Strategic Committee meetings are held at the highest level, and it is a mechanism for consultation on Qatari-Turkish relations, and it represents one of the most important indicators of intense and strong bilateral relations. It also reflects the desire of the two countries to enhance and diversify cooperation relations, and it is an important indication of the strength and depth of relations and their commitment as two brother countries and strategic allies.
There is great political harmony and agreement of views between Ankara and Doha regarding many issues in the region, such as the crises in Syria, Libya, Yemen, and the situation in Iraq.
In light of growing economic cooperation and increasing political harmony, many regionally and internationally count on the summits between His Highness and President Erdogan to crystallize solutions and visions for the issues and crises in the Middle East, especially at a time when the region is beset by great tensions.
