Retired Lieutenant-General Pekin: The USA will not sacrifice Qatar

Former Head of General Staff Intelligence, retired Lieutenant-General İsmail Hakkı Pekin, assessing the Qatar crisis that is of close interest to Turkey, has said, ‘The USA will not sacrifice Qatar, nor abandon it to Saudi Arabia.’ Pekin, indicating that the ongoing crisis has to do with Qatar’s energy resources and, as to its political dimension, the aim is to box Iran in, made the assessment, ‘A message is also being given to Turkey not to support the Muslim Brotherhood. Hot conflict is unlikely. The base Turkey has set up will have at most psychological deterrence. Otherwise, there is no issue of protecting one against the other.’

Pekin, who assessed the military dimension of the ongoing crisis between Qatar and certain other Muslim countries, chiefly Saudi Arabia, for Cumhuriyet, noted that the base that Turkey has set up in Doha will only have deterrence from a psychological viewpoint. Pekin, stating that conflict between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which is opposing it, is totally out of the question, said, ‘Qatar’s natural gas resources are important. They have also found new deposits in the north and have started to extract them. This country earned its independence in 1971 but the UK is still known to exert influence. France and Germany are also important in terms of these investments. Turkey is ranked third among foreign investors as far as I know.’

Pekin, pointing to the political dimension of the crisis along with its economic dimension, indicated that this was a classical boxing in of Iran. Pekin, pointing out that there is competition in the region between Saudi Arabia and Iran, made the assessment, ‘I think that the crisis is not independent of the subsequent attacks in Iran. Pressure is being placed on Iran through Qatar. Israel’s silence is curious, too. Israel’s relations with Qatar are good.’ Pekin, touching on Qatar’s importance for the US, gave the following examples:

‘The US has 10,000 soldiers in this country. The largest air base in the region is also here. As far as I know, there are more than 100 warplanes. Operations in the region are run from here. Bearing these things in mind, I do not think that the USA will sacrifice Qatar. Or, indeed, Qatar to Saudi Arabia.’