Qatar crisis: latest developments

Led by Saudi Arabia, several states in the Middle East and Africa have severed ties with Qatar since June 5, accusing the gas-rich Gulf state of supporting terrorism and Iran. Qatar denies the allegations.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with the Emir of Kuwait Sabah al Ahmad al Jaber al Sabah in Kuwait City as a part of his two-day trip to Gulf to discuss the Qatar diplomatic crisis.
TRT World and Agencies

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with the Emir of Kuwait Sabah al Ahmad al Jaber al Sabah in Kuwait City as a part of his two-day trip to Gulf to discuss the Qatar diplomatic crisis.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and several other Sunni-majority countries have severed relations with Qatar since June 5, accusing the Gulf state of supporting terrorism based on its ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and the Taliban.

Another point of departure is Qatar's ties with Iran, with whom it shares one of the world's biggest gas fields.

Qatar has denied the accusations and called the collective decision "unjustified." Kuwait, Turkey and the US have all urged a political solution as the bloc isolates Qatar using various ad hoc sanctions, including shutting down their airspace to Qataris and blocking import routes.

The dispute began in May when Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani was reported to have made statements on the state news agency supporting Iran. Doha said the statements were fabricated and disseminated via a hack.

Here are the latest developments in the crisis:

July 24, Monday

Erdogan arrives in Qatar

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has arrived in Doha in an effort to help resolve the dispute. Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani welcomed the Turkish president and his wife Emine to the capital.

Erdogan embarked on a two-day trip to the region on Sunday when he met the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

The Turkish president has praised Qatar's behaviour throughout the dispute, saying the emirate has sought a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

Qatari websites unblocked in Saudi

Websites and some television channels linked to Qatar were unblocked in Saudi Arabia on Monday morning, but the change arose from a technical glitch and the restrictions will be reimposed shortly, a key Saudi royal court adviser said.

As part of the boycott, Saudi and Emirati authorities blocked the Qatari state-funded television network Al Jazeera and spin-off channels including beIN Sports.

But on Monday morning, Saudi viewers reported that beIN sports channels and websites were operating, while Al Jazeera satellite channels remained blocked.

"The lifting of the block on websites of the Qatari authorities was due to a technical error and will be fixed within the coming hours," Saud al Qahtani, a top adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said.

UAE telecommunications providers du Telecom and Etisalat reinstated BeIN Sports channels on Saturday, saying in text messages to subscribers that their packages would be subject to an ongoing review, UAE newspaper The National reported.

As of late Monday morning, Al Jazeera remained blocked in both countries, along with the websites for Qatar Airways and Doha News.

For more on earlier developments click here.

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