Türkiye suggests to send soldiers to Qatar for World Cup security

Türkiye submitted last week a memorandum to Parliament to deploy soldiers to Qatar to provide security during World Cup 2022 in late November.

It follows a request from Qatar for security support during the competition, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a letter on October 1 about the legislature, per Daily Sabah.

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) personnel will help secure the tournament, which is expected to attract more than 1 million visitors, against "terrorism" threats among others, the request letter read.

Helping Qatar – with which Türkiye has an "exceptional cooperation" and "historical, cultural ties" – will help stability in the Gulf region as well, it added.

“In addition to our country, the US, France, the UK, Italy and Pakistan will contribute to the World Cup Shield Operation with their military elements.”

Under a protocol signed between Türkiye and Qatar and published in Türkiye’s Official Gazette earlier this summer, Ankara will deploy riot police, bomb specialists and sniffer dogs for the World Cup, which will run between November 21 and December 18.

More than 3,000 Turkish riot police would be deployed to secure the event, according to the Interior Ministry.

It was not immediately clear if the troop mandate was related to the police deployment plans.

With a population of less than 3 million – of which just 380,000 are Qatari nationals – Qatar faces a shortage of personnel as it gears up for the monthlong FIFA football tournament.

Türkiye, which has a military base in Qatar, stood by its ally when Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) boycotted Doha in 2017 – cutting all diplomatic and transport links with their neighbor in a dispute over allegations that it supported terrorism and was cozying up to their foe Iran.

The Gulf states restored relations last year, and Türkiye also moved to improve ties with Saudi Arabia and the UAE.