Erdoğan Backs Qatar That Rejects 13 Demands by Arab States

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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reacted to the list of demands that were prepared by Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain and include pulling Turkish troops out of Qatar. Qatar has rejected the demands.

Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Muhammed bin Abdurrahman es-San told Al Jazeera that the list was "neither reasonable nor actionable".

UAE's Minister of Foreign Affairs Enver Gargash has suggested they may "cut ties completely".

Reaction from Erdoğan

Commenting on the demand that Turkey pull its troops of out of Qatar, Erdoğan said:

"To ask Turkey to pull out its troops from Qatar is firstly disrespectful behaviour towards us," he said in Istanbul on the first day of a three-day holiday to mark the end of Ramadan.

"We don't need permission from anyone to establish military bases among partners. We appreciate Qatar's stance towards the 13 demands. It's a very, very ugly approach to try to interfere with our agreement."

On June 22, an aid ship carrying fruit, vegetable and dry food departed from Turkey to Qatar.

Turkey sent 25 soldiers and five armored vehicles to its base in Qatar yesterday (June 25).