|
CAIRO/ISTANBUL, July 25-- Though Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's just-concluded Gulf tour failed to break the impasse there, it has at least helped protect Turkey's interests in the region. Erdogan on Monday ended his two-day whirlwind visit to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, without achieving major breakthrough to end the diplomatic row between Qatar and the Saudi-led quartet. Erdogan's tour was the second diplomatic offensive launched by Turkey, following a similar visit to the Gulf by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu a month ago. In fact, no one expected much from Erdogan's visit even before it started, mainly because of Turkey's one-sided support to Qatar, a major economic and security partner for Ankara. But obviously, the need to soothe the worry of the Saudi-led alliance of Arab countries and the desire to exert Turkey's influence as a regional power have propelled Erdogan to go ahead with the visit. ONE-SIDED STANCE HURTS TURKEY'S CREDIBILITY AS MEDIATOR Even since the beginning of Gulf crisis on June 5 when the Saudi-led bloc cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, Erdogan has never shied away from voicing his public support to Doha, with which Ankara has extensive economic and security relations. At one point, the Turkish leader even criticized the blockade on Qatar imposed by the Saudi-led bloc, which also includes the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt, as inhumane and against Islamic values. | 
