Qatar crisis since 2017

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The Qatar crisis since 2017 is a political crisis in the Gulf region , in which Saudi Arabia, among others, accuses the Emirate of Qatar of supporting terrorist groups in the region. Saudi Arabia and its allies Egypt , Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates suspended diplomatic relations with Qatar on June 5, 2017, closing their borders with the country. In mid-August, Saudi Arabia announced that it would open its border with Qatar to Muslim pilgrims on Hajj .

background

The main actors in the crisis - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain - are, like Qatar itself, members of the Gulf Cooperation Council , the purpose of which is the cooperation of its members on foreign and security policy and the promotion of economic and social relations.

Alongside Turkey under Erdoğan, Qatar is considered the most important supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and other radical groups. With their demand for the establishment of an Islamic state, the Muslim Brotherhood is viewed by the Arab rulers as a threat to their monarchies.

According to experts, the Qatari government supports Islamist terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda , the Syrian opposition al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State . Qatar has a list of terrorist organizations, but in 2014 it did not have a single entry. Many Islamist terrorists have been living undisturbed in Qatar for years, despite international protests. Their extradition is one of Saudi Arabia's demands. The Qatari government admits it supports the Palestinian-Islamist terrorist organization Hamas .

A hoax launched by an unknown originator played a role in the escalation of the diplomatic crisis. CNN reported, citing US intelligence officials, that the Qatar state news agency's system had been hacked and misinformation had been spread through them. The Washington Post later reported, also citing US intelligence officials, that the hacking attack had originated in the United Arab Emirates.

In a falsified report, the Qatari government is said to have made positive comments about Iran and Israel , which greatly angered the Arab neighbors. In addition, the report is said to have questioned whether Donald Trump could stay in office as US President. Qatar's foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, told CNN that the FBI had confirmed the hacker attack and the "fake news" story. All allegations against his country were based on this misinformation.

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According to media reports, this news is said to have actually induced Saudi Arabia and other countries to break off their diplomatic relations with the country.

boycott

Qatar's financial and logistical aid to radical Islamic organizations, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, was a decisive reason for Saudi Arabia as well as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt to break ties with the monarchy and isolate the country as far as possible. They cut all land, sea and air connections. The state airline Qatar Airways was no longer granted a landing permit and its overflight rights were revoked.

Qatar agreed to enter into dialogue with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, and the citizens of the Arab states are also allowed to stay in the country. The country hired ex-President George W. Bush's US legal advisory firm for US $ 2.5 million to seek advice on the country's efforts to counteract financial support for terrorist groups. John Ashcroft wants to personally lead the operation.

Support from Iran and Turkey

Iran sent planes with food to Qatar. The machines brought fresh food, mostly fruit and vegetables, to the emirate. In the Iranian port city of Dajjer , which lies on the Persian Gulf , three Iranian ships with 350 tons of food for Qatar are to leave, said the port chief there. Iran provided Qatar Airways with Iranian airspace for flights to Europe and Africa.

As a blockade breaker, Turkey has been supplying Qatar with food and other goods with 200 cargo planes and a ship since mid-July. According to experts, the support has less economic than political reasons. While Qatar is an important trading partner, Saudi Arabia and the other blockade states are much more important for Turkish trade. Rather, the decisive factor is that Qatar and Turkey have been supporting the Muslim Brotherhood for a long time , and the Qatari state broadcaster Al Jazeera , which can be received worldwide, plays a particularly important role.

Ultimatum of June 22, 2017

According to media reports, on June 22, 2017 , Kuwait , which acts as an intermediary, sent Qatar a list of 13 points drawn up by Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The demands include the reduction of Qatar's connections to Iran, the closure of both the Turkish military base in Doha , which has existed since May 2016, and the news channel Al Jazeera , the expulsion of all citizens of the four states from Qatar and the direct transfer of all persons wanted as terrorists Islamic State (IS), al-Qaeda as well as the Shiite militia Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood . Qatar was given ten days to implement the demands. The Qatar government rejected the 13 claims on June 25, 2017, claiming that they were neither appropriate nor justified. The Iranian and Turkish governments sided with Qatar.

At the request of the Emir of Kuwait , who is mediating in the crisis, the ultimatum was extended by two days on July 3. The Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani had previously stated that they were ready to defend the country militarily. The expiry of the ultimatum initially had no consequences; the embargo remained in place.

Reactions

The US government spokesman, Sean Spicer , said that his country views the matter as a "family matter" and that the affected countries should settle these among themselves. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on Saudi Arabia and its allies to ease the blockade. President Donald Trump, on the other hand, reiterated his support for Saudi Arabia's actions.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan criticized Qatar's isolation. Nobody would benefit from it; the country is waging an effective fight against terrorist groups. He credited Qatar for keeping a "cool head" and being constructive in the conflict. An urgent decision by the Turkish parliament to station troops in Qatar made it possible for Erdoğan to station up to 3,000 Turkish soldiers and fighter planes in Qatar within a short period of time in order to assist the local government in its dispute with its Arab neighbors. Qatar is estimated to be investing nearly $ 20 billion in Turkey.

The then German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) said in an interview that the isolation of the emirate of Qatar by Saudi Arabia and its allies was dangerous and there was a risk that this conflict could turn into a war. The hardship shown between brother nations and neighboring states is "dramatic". He spoke to his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Iran and Kuwait and tried to mediate. Gabriel expressly praised the clear stance of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

According to the Foreign Office , many German nationals are severely affected by the Qatar conflict; According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung , around 2000 people with a German passport live there.

The EU foreign affairs representative Federica Mogherini called on both sides to prevent the conflict from escalating further and at the same time to initiate a political dialogue to find a solution. Mogherini emphasized the good relationship the European Union had with all Gulf states and pointed out that the Union would continue to maintain ties with all states in the region despite the crisis.

The United Arab Emirates, through its US ambassador, denied involvement in a hacker attack on Qatar.

Border opening to Hajj

At the end of July 2017, Qatar accused neighboring Saudi Arabia of obstructing Qatari citizens on their Muslim Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca . In mid-August 2017, two weeks before the Hajj, Saudi Arabia announced that it would open its border with Qatar to pilgrims. King Salman ibn Abd al-Aziz ordered that electronic entry permits be waived at the Salwa border crossing. Salman also plans to use his private jet for Qatari pilgrims at his own expense and have them transported on to the airports of Dammam and Al-Ahsa as personal guests.

The conflict intensified again in May 2020

In May 2020, Saudi Arabia launched a disinformation attack against Qatar on social media, primarily on Twitter . The disinformation circulating related to an alleged coup in Qatar and was fed with fake and outdated videos and fake tweets. In a very short time the rumors got a lot of attention. As in 2017, Saudi Arabia used social media to damage the reputation of its neighboring country Qatar and distract it from its own problems. Attempts to get closer in the Qatar crisis in 2019 were thus thwarted.

Web links

 Wikinews: Dispute with Qatar - a diplomatic crisis  - message

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Crisis in the Gulf: Large-scale hacker attack on Qatari broadcaster al-Jazeera. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung online. June 8, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Mike Krever: Quatar's Emir: We don't fund terrorists . In: cnn.com . June 25, 2017, accessed June 25, 2017.
  3. ↑ Jamie Dettmer: US Ally Qatar Shelters Jihadi . In: The Daily Beast . October 12, 2014, accessed June 25, 2017.
  4. ^ Robert Mendick: Terror financiers are living freely in Qatar, US description . In: telegraph.co.uk. November 16, 2014, accessed June 25, 2017.
  5. ^ David Andrew Weinberg: Analysis: Qatar still negligent on terror finance . In: Long War Journal . August 19, 2015, accessed June 25, 2017.
  6. ↑ Julian Pcquett: Congress Goes After 'Frenemies' Turkey, Qatar . In: US News . September 10, 2014, accessed June 25, 2017.
  7. ↑ a b UAE orchestrated hacking of Qatari government sites, sparking regional upheaval, according to US intelligence officials , Washington Post, July 17, 2017.
  8. ↑ a b Russian hackers are said to have triggered the Qatar crisis. In: sueddeutsche.de. June 7, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Susanne Güsten: Erdogan supports Qatar. In: tagesspiegel.de. June 10, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Le ciel se vide au-dessus du Qatar, sur fond de crise diplomatique avec le camp prosaoudien. In: Le Monde.fr. June 6, 2017, accessed June 11, 2017 (French).
  11. ^ John Gambrell: Qatar, in regional crisis, hires former US attorney general. In: washingtonpost.com. June 11, 2017, archived from the original on June 11, 2017 ; accessed on June 11, 2017 .
  12. ^ Crisis in the Gulf: Iran sends food to Qatar. In: tagesschau.de. June 11, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2017 .
  13. ↑ FAZ, Why Erdogan cares so much about Qatar , July 24, 2017
  14. ↑ Crisis in the Gulf - Qatar's opponents issue ultimatum. (No longer available online.) In: MDR online. June 23, 2017, archived from the original on June 26, 2017 ; accessed on June 23, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mdr.de
  15. ^ Qatar's neighbors issue steep list of demands to end crisis. In: AP . June 23, 2017, accessed the same day.
  16. ^ Saudi-led demands not 'reasonable or actionable': Qatar. In: Al Jazeera . June 24, 2017, accessed on the same day.
  17. ↑ Qatar says list of demands by Arab states not realistic. In: BBC News. June 24, 2017, accessed June 25, 2017 .
  18. ↑ Rohani and Erdogan jump aside Qatar . In: Spiegel Online . Retrieved June 25, 2017, the same day.
  19. ↑ Ultimatum to Qatar extended by 48 hours . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung online . July 3, 2017. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  20. ↑ The embargo remains - no further sanctions . In: Deutschlandfunk online . 5th July 2017.
  21. ↑ Spicer calls the Qatar crisis a "family matter". In: Spiegel Online . Retrieved June 23, 2017, the same day.
  22. ↑ Trump versus Tillerson: Chaotic signals from the USA on the Qatar crisis. In: Spiegel Online . June 10, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017 .
  23. ↑ Susanne Güsten: Erdogan supports Qatar. In: tagesspiegel.de. June 10, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017 .
  24. ↑ a b Qatar Crisis: Gabriel warns of a new Gulf War. In: Spiegel Online. June 10, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017 .
  25. ^ EU foreign affairs officer Mogherini on the Qatar crisis . In: eeas.europa.eu . June 9, 2017, accessed June 24, 2017 (English, French).
  26. ^ "Saudi Arabia opens border for pilgrims from Qatar - Hajj to Mecca should be made possible - SPIEGEL ONLINE". Accessed August 17, 2017. http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/saudi-arabien-oeffnet-begrenz-fuer-pilger-aus-katar-hadsch-nach-mekka-soll-ermoeglicht-haben-a- 1163216.html .
  27. ↑ The coup in Qatar, which didn't even exist. May 12, 2020, accessed June 3, 2020 .