Chastened Qataris look to Ankara

With Turkey and Qatar at political odds with much of the region, Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani’s visit to Ankara and Istanbul on 14 February was a timely attempt to turn that isolation to their advantage, and firm up an alliance based on a convergence of interests.It was the third high-level meeting between Qatar and Turkey since Emir Tamim came to power. He made his first trip to Istanbul in September and, in December, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Doha (with foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu visiting Qatar in between).