Turkey deploys warship to Qatar to participate in World Cup security operations
Turkey has sent a warship to Qatar to participate in the “Operation World Cup Shield,” a joint security operations for the FIFA tournament scheduled to begin on Nov.21.
The TCG Burgazada ship was sent to Doha from an Izmir port on Saturday, Turkish Defense Ministry said.
TCG BURGAZADA, 1 Kasım-18 Aralık 2022 tarihleri arasında gerçekleştirilecek “FIFA-2022 Dünya Kupası Kalkanı Harekâtı”na katılmak amacıyla, Foça’da düzenlenen tören ile Katar’a uğurlandı.#MSB pic.twitter.com/yHlPwM4VgH
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) October 15, 2022
The relations between Turkey and Qatar have intensified under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s rule. Doha provided crucial economic funds to Ankara, pledging billions of dollars in cross-currency swaps to the Turkish central bank to help boosting Turkish lira that has fallen to record lows since a currency crisis in 2018.
The two countries have signed numerous agreements since 2015, also including deals on defense cooperation. Turkey has a military base in Qatar. It deployed first soldiers to the Gulf country in 2015. Earlier this month, Turkish parliament approved a motion to send troops to Qatar for another six months.
Ankara and Doha have also cooperated closely on regional foreign policy issues including Syria, Libya and Afghanistan.
More than 3,000 security personnel deployed by Turkey will also support security operations at stadiums and hotels during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, hosted by Qatar.
In addition to Turkey, Qatar has partnered with other countries such as France, Italy and the United Kingdom to secure the sporting event.
22nd FIFA World Cup will be played until Dec.18, 2022.
