Qatar Holds History Panel of Country’s Relations with Turkey

Doha, MINA – Turkish Culture Institute Yunus Emre Institute together with Ibnu Haldun Research Center of the University of Qatar held a panel on the history of relations between Turkey and Qatar.

The panel held in the city of Doha, the capital of Qatar, intitled “Turkey-Qatar relations since the period of the founder of Qatar state Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani to this day”.

The speaker was the director of the Center for Research and Middle East Studies from Fatih Sultan Mehmet University in Istanbul Prof. Dr. Zekeriya Kurşun as quoted from Anadolu Agency (AA).

Kursun revealed that the two countries have strong historical relations.

“The Emir of Qatar, who came to power in the 19th century, Sheikh Jassim bin Muhammad Al Thani had a strong relationship with the second sultan Abdulhamid,” he said,

Kursun said that many historians mistakenly assumed that the relationship between two parties began in the 19th century.

However, the fact is that their relationship has been going on since the Ottoman Empire expanded its territory to reach the eastern part of Arabia in the 16th century.

Qatar founder Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani at the end of the 19th century had asked the Ottomans for help to fight against Britain in the region, Kursun said.

Even Sheikh Jassim and his son Sheikh Abdullah tried to delay the expulsion of the Ottoman army by making a peace agreement with the British colonists.

Based on the Ottoman archives, the use of Qatari name officially began in 1555. Ottoman archives mention that in the past, the people of Qatar had a large ship, they were fond of doing marine activities.

Kursun said the relationship broke up along with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, now the relationship was rebuilt in 1979.

The panel was attended by many listeners, Turkish Ambassador to Doha Fikret Ozer and Qatar University Chancellor Hassan Rashid Al-Derham also helped enliven the event. (T/Sj)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)