Turkey urges end of Qatar crisis citing damage to Islamic unity

KHARTOUM, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Turkey on Tuesday urged the end of the Gulf crisis around Qatar, saying there is no reason for its continuation which undermines the efforts of uniting Islamic countries.

"In Turkey's opinion, the crisis in the Gulf is a crisis without a reason. So far allegations have been made, but they have not been proven," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a joint press conference with his Sudanese counterpart in Khartoum.

"In my opinion, there is no reason not to settle this crisis. Brothers should avoid such crisis among them. Turkey supports the Kuwaiti initiative and it has made intensive contacts with Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar," noted Cavusoglu.

In June, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of backing terrorism. Qatar has denied all the charges.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday concluded a three-day visit to Khartoum that marked the first of its kind for a Turkish president to Sudan since its independence in 1956.

Sudan was Erdogan's first stop of his tour in Africa which also includes Chad and Tunisia.

During the visit, the Turkish president was accompanied by a large economic delegation of more than 200 Turkish businessmen. Enditem