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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will wade deeper into the Gulf crisis with trips to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar from Sunday, diplomacy that may be as much about protecting his nations regional interests as finding a way out of the six-week impasse.

Ankara has been a crucial ally of Qatar since it was isolated by a four-nation, Saudi-led coalition on June 5,shipping it food and expanding its military presence there ahead of joint military drills later this month. In a sign its looking to broaden that role, Defense Fikri Isik said Erdogans two-day visit to major trade partners would aim toease tensions rather than fueling instability, while reiterating that Qatars sovereignty must be respected.

We are saying that primarily Saudi Arabia and all other countries should sit down at a table and solve this through peaceful dialogue, Isik said in the capital on Monday. To that end, Turkey is ready to make any contribution.

Diplomatic efforts to end the standoff have so far failed. After four days of shuttle diplomacy between Gulf capitals last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the dispute -- which pits longstanding U.S. economic and security allies against each other -- may last quite a while. The sides still refuse to speak to each other directly and are no closer to resolving the 13 key demands made after the crisis started.

They include Qatar downgrading its cordial ties with chief Saudi foe Iran, ending the Turkish military presence on its soil, and stopping its backing for the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic group that has been in the crosshairs of the Saudis and other Gulf monarchies since the Arab revolts at the start of this decade. Qatar has rebuffed the demands and has also denied the blocs allegation that it funds terrorism.

Turkey also has a lot at stake. While it, too, backs the Brotherhood and is a major recipient of Qatari investment, Saudi Arabia and fellow alliance member United Arab Emirates bought $8.6 billion of Turkish exports last year, almost 20 times as much as Qatar.

Read More: Saudis Are After the Muslim Brotherhood, and Turkeys In the Way.

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Turkey has already been excluded as a main mediator and broker in the Qatar crisis because of the unwavering, expanded support it has extended to Doha and due to its position on the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, Anthony Skinner, a director with U.K.-based forecasting company Verisk Maplecroft, said by email. That said, President Erdogan has a clear interest in doing what he can to break the impasse and to ensure political, trade and commercial ties with Saudi Arabia are not eroded.

Speaking during a trip to the U.K., U.A.E. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said he saw little hope of a quick fix to the spat. He said that the alliance -- which also includes Egypt and Bahrain -- needed a clear signal that Qatar, the worlds largest producer of liquefied natural gas, is willing to reexamine its position regarding extremism and terrorism.

The situation we want to move to is a neighbor that we can trust, a neighbor that is transparent, that we can do business with, Gargash said in an interview outside parliament in central London. This is not a crisis where we are looking for a quick fix, he said. We need a solution that will stick.

Ilnur Cevik, a chief adviser to Erdogan, said by phone on Tuesday that Turkey was seeking to join the dialogue as an impartial player.

Mehmet Sahin, an analyst of international relations at Ankaras Gazi University, said he expected the Turkish president to stress that the Arab world should unite against the real threats from Iran as well as regional turmoil, including Syria.

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Erdogan's Gulf Crisis Trip Signals Conflicting Turkish Interests - Bloomberg

Ankara (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said he has never known Qatar to give support to terror organisations, a charge made by Saudi Arabia and its allies who have cut ties with the gas-rich emirate.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and other states broke off relations on Monday over what they say is the emirate's financing of extremist groups as well as its ties to Iran, Riyadh's regional arch-rival.

On Friday, the Saudis and their allies placed several Qataris and Doha-based organisations on a "terror list" as the bitter diplomatic row escalated.

They released a joint statement listing as many as 18 individuals, including members of Qatar's royal family and a former minister as involved in "terrorist" activities.

While maintaining good relations with the Gulf states, Turkey has vowed to continue to back its close ties with Qatar, which Erdogan again defended on Friday.

"They declare foundations established to provide different services as terror organisations. Something like this should not happen. I know those foundations. Until today I have not witnessed Qatar give support to terror," Erdogan said in Istanbul.

In addition to cutting ties, Saudi Arabia has also sealed off Qatar's only land border, a crucial lifeline for food imports.

The Turkish leader called for the "blockade" against Doha to be "completely lifted", urging Saudi Arabia to show leadership and encourage good relations in the region.

"I have a request to the Saudi administration: you are the biggest in the Gulf, the strongest... not with hostilities, you should be the leader of fraternity there, you should bring everyone together," Erdogan said.

He also ratified a bill approved by Turkish lawmakers on Wednesday to deploy troops to a Turkish base in Qatar in a move seen as Ankara's show of support for Doha.

Erdogan defended the action, asking "our friends" in the Gulf: "Why does the American base not discomfort you? There are other countries' bases too, why doesn't it discomfort you?"

He was referring to the enormous Al-Udeid airbase, the United States' biggest in the Middle East which is home to some 10,000 US troops.

It is a crucial hub for US military operations in the Middle East, especially the battle against the Islamic State group.

Erdogan said Turkey would continue to help Qatar such as exporting food and medicine to them.

"Sorry, but we will continue to give all kinds of support to Qatar," he said.

See more here:
Erdogan says 'not witnessed' Qatar give support to terror

Speaking to hundreds of thousands of people at a massive ceremony on Saturday in Istanbul, Erdogan urged vigilance against lurking enemies and declared that last summer's bloody ordeal emboldened the nation.

"This experience has unified us, made us stronger," the President said. "This wasn't the first attack against our nation and it's not going to be the last attack either."

"We know who is behind these terrorists. However, there's also the fact that if you do not combat and fight against these pieces we cannot fight and overcome those who are manipulating them. Therefore, we are going to behead these traitors."

The country has remained in a state of emergency while allowing Erdogan to tighten his grip on power and oversee a massive purge of those who he says rose up against him.

Over the past year, Erdogan and his government have clamped down on civil liberties across Turkey, gutted public institutions and universities, heavily restricted the media and ordered mass arrests of activists, journalists and the political opposition.

Since the coup attempt, more than 169,000 people have faced "judicial action" ranging from travel restrictions and detentions to arrest warrants,, the justice ministry said, according to Anadolu.

The clampdown stoked widespread unease in the country.

But the sea of Erdogan supporters packing the streets waved flags and cheered on their popular and outspoken leader. The commemoration ceremony started at July 15 Martyrs Bridge with the national anthem. Then it was followed by a Quranic recitation, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency said.

The names of those people killed were read out and their pictures were also shown on big screens. A monument honoring those killed while fighting the coup attempt near the bridge was unveiled.

Erdogan praised those who lost their lives in the fight against those carrying out the attempted putsch.

"I wish this bridge were able to speak about the heroic acts on this bridge," he said. "I express my gratitude to these martyrs. They have defended their freedom, their calls to prayers, their flags, their motherland, their state and their future."

After the address, he traveled to Ankara, the capital, where he spoke to throngs at the parliament building early Sunday, repeating the same themes that he did in Istanbul, sympathy for the people who died trying to stop the coup attempt, respect and confidence for the Turkish people, criticism of the country's opposition leader, and anger toward the people who tried to overthrow the government.

Speaking in Istanbul, Erdogan warned of groups that are using terrorists as "manipulation."

He cited followers of exiled cleric and former ally Fetullah Gulen. Erdogan has claimed Gulen was behind the coup attempt, a charge that Gulen denies. Gulen is the leader of a popular movement called Hizmet, but the Turkish government refers to his group as the Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organization, known as FETO.

The government has said that the Gulen group "is behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary," according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

"How dare you can attack this motherland? There will be those days that you will account for what you have done," Erdogan said in Ankara. "Hey FETO, is there anywhere you can safely go? Is there anything you haven't done to damage this nation. Is there any door left that you haven't knocked at?

"You have been allocated some land in Pennsylvania to use, now you are governing these places from there. Those who made calculations for a coup d'etat completely forgot that you cannot make calculations before God and they have hit the wall of the national will as a result," Erdogan said, referring to where Gulen now lives in the United States.

Erdogan also mentioned the Kurdistan Workers' Party, a designated terror group in Turkey, the US and Europe. Known by its acronym the PKK, it has been engaged in a 30-year conflict with the Turkish government. He also cited Daesh, another name for ISIS, which Turkey also views as a foe.

"We know very well that FETO is not just FETO. PKK is not just PKK. Daesh is not just Daesh on itself. These terrorist organizations and other are not only comprised of what you can see when you look at them, we know this very well," Erdogan said.

The President said many enemies were "waiting at bay ready to attack."

"We are not uttering their names but we know all about them. We know who they are," he said. "You will not be able to succeed. You will not be able to divide our nation. You will not be able to bring our flag down."

The attempted coup took place July 15, 2016, undertaken by a faction of the military Tanks rolled into the streets of Turkey's two largest cities, Ankara and Instanbul.

Soldiers blocked the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul -- now renamed the July 15th Martyrs Bridge in honor of people on the bridge who confronted the coup-plotters.

Bombs struck the parliament building in the capital Ankara, and a helicopter stolen by rogue pilots was shot down by an F-16 jet.

Erdogan was hundreds of miles away at a seaside resort when the coup got going. By the time he emerged to address the nation via FaceTime hours later, it had already begun to abate.

About 250 people died standing up to the soldiers who took part in the uprising.

Coup plotters were rounded up the next day. In the ongoing days and week, Erdogan and his government have clamped down on civil liberties across the country, gutted public institutions and universities, heavily restricted the media and ordered mass arrests of activists, journalists and the political opposition.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the opposition Republican People's Party, recently led a long trek through Turkey, about 250 miles over three-and-a-half weeks, to demand that the government loosen its stranglehold on the country's democracy.

Called the "March for Justice" Kilicdaroglu was joined by throngs of disaffected citizens -- many angry with Erdogan -- in the walk from the capital, Ankara, to Istanbul. Kilicdaroglu kicked off the march after the imprisonment of one of his party's parliament members.

In his Saturday address, Erdogan slammed Kilicdaroglu for repeatedly claiming that the government knew about the coup attempt in advance but it failed to stop it and called those remarks disrespectful and insulting.

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Turkey: Erdogan says behead traitors - CNN.com

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Over the weekend, Turkeymarked the one-year anniversary of a deadly coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his elected government.You probably know the story: On July 15, 2016, a mutinous faction of soldiers staged a short-lived insurrection that was confronted by mass protests in Istanbul and elsewhere. More than 250 people were killed, including many civilians, and thousands injured before order was restored.

A year ago, I reported the aftermath from Istanbul. In a country known for its profoundly polarized politics, the events of July 15 had ushered in a remarkable period of unity. After decades of military interference in political life, Turks across the political spectrum seemed galvanized by their fellow citizens' defense of democracy. On Aug. 7, Erdogan even appeared at a gigantic rally with prominentfigures of the opposition including his biggest challenger, secularist Kemal Kilicdaroglu in an unprecedented show of solidarity.

Today, whatever unity once existed is long gone. At eventsin Istanbul and Ankara commemorating the "martyrs" who perished, Erdogan thundered against his opponents at home and abroad.

"We will rip off the heads of those traitors," Erdogan saidat a massive nationalist rally in Istanbul on Saturday, reiterating his desire to reinstate the death penalty. He then scolded Kilicdaroglu, who recently led a three-week protest march against Erdogan from Ankara to Istanbul.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," Erdogansaid. "This nation is not a coward like you. This nation has a heart."

Turkish authorities pinned the attempted coupon Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based cleric whofounded a global network of influential schools and charities but who is widely seen in Turkey as the mastermind of a subversive fifth columnseeking to controlthe Turkish state. In an interview with NPR last week, Gulen againdenied any involvement in the attempted coup.

The murky origins and circumstances of the putsch are stillthe subject offevered debate,and Gulen's mooted extradition to his homelandseems nowhere in sight. Erdogan railed at Western governments for supposedly taking the side of his enemies and seeking to undermine Turkey.

"The stance of the European Union is clear to see ... 54 years have passed and they are still messing us about," he said in Ankaraon Sunday, resuming his long-running feud with European leaders. "We will sort things out for ourselves. There's no other option."

Erdogan's government certainly has set about "sorting things out." Just days after he survived the coup attempt, Erdogan declared it "a gift from God" that would usher in "a new Turkey."

Since then, Erdoganhas presided over a vast and astonishing purge of his country's state institutions and civil society. He and his allies say they areexpunging supposed Gulenist plotters, but they are in realitytargetinga much larger pool of dissidents, activistsand other perceived adversaries.

Around 150,000 people were suspended or fired from their jobs in state institutions or universities. On Friday alone, news came of 7,000 more peopledismissed from their posts, including 2,303 police officers and hundreds of academics. At least 50,000 people from the military, police, judiciary and other branches of government have been arrested. More than 100 journalists are behind bars. Dozens of newspapers and TV stations have been shut down.

Critics accuse Erdogan of laying the foundations of a one-party dictatorship, but his supporters say heis consolidating Turkish democracy. And so does he.

"Those who turned their weapons against innocent civilians on 15 July hit a brick wall made of a decade of progress in politics, economics, healthcare, justice, foreign policy and fundamental rights," Erdogan wrote in a column published by the Guardian. "This connection between the people and their government is the ultimate measure of our democracys resilience, and the strongest guarantee of its survival."

Thisyear, Erdogannarrowly won a referendum that will transform the Turkish republic's political system from a parliamentary democracy to one dominated by a strong presidential executive. But hisslim margin of victory led many analysts to predict that Erdogan will cling to his divisive populismto further cement his power.

Erdogan's fieryremarks in Istanbul this week were aimed at his base politically conservative, religiously pious and increasingly nationalist Turks. A day prior, imams around Turkey delivered state-sanctioned sermons that connected those who died defending Erdogan's rule to the fighters killed in Turkey's war of independence after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The legacy of the coup attempt has "become an increasingly important political cudgel for the president and his Islamist supporters, with the victory over the coup plotters seen as a critical part of the governments popular mandate," my colleague Kareem Fahimwrote.

"His narrative means that the rise of the Turkish nation and the future of the global Muslim community hinge on Erdogan as a person and a politician," said Soner Cagaptay,author of "The New Sultan: Erdogan and the Crisis of Modern Turkey," to the Financial Times. "The implication is that, if you dont support Erdogan, you are neither a good Turk or a good Muslim."

As we've discussed before, Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party were initially seen as forces of liberalization, unshackling Turkey's sclerotic economy and granting greater cultural freedoms to devout Muslims, ethnic Kurds and other communities long suppressed by Turkey's notoriously draconian secular state. But now, Erdogan's critics lamenthis repeated demonization of constituenciesunlikely to vote for him or his party and the deepening polarization that is taking placeunder his watch.

"Labeling at least half of your population as 'terrorist' is not a defense of democracy,"Kilicdarogluwrote in a Guardian column opposing the Turkish president. "And concentrating power in the hands of one person without any checks or balances is an assault on the very notion of democracy."

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Turkey's Erdogan turned a failed coup into his path to greater power - Washington Post

In a fiery speech Saturday marking a year since the Turkish government put down a coup attempt, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to chop off the heads of traitors if capital punishment were restored in the country.

First of all we will chop off the heads of those traitors, Erdogan said in a speech celebrating the defeat of the Turkish coup.

DETAINED HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS FACE CHARGES IN TURKEY

The 2016 coup attempt killed 249 people as opposition forces attempted to overthrow Erdogan, who's been in power since 2003.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan waves to supporters outside the Presidential Palace. (AP)

In addition to "chopping their heads off," Erdogan suggested when trying the suspects, the government would "make them appear in uniform suits like in Guantanamo.

Supporters of Erdogan chanted we are soldiers of Tayyip and displayed nooses in a symbol of support for the death penalty, AFP reported.

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Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech at a ceremony at Turkey's Parliament. (AP)

Erdogan reaffirmed he would be willing to sign any parliament-passed bill on resuming executions.

In 2004, Turkey abolished capital punishment. Any move to restore capital punishment would likely end the Ankaras European Union membership ambitions.

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Erdogan: 'We will chop off the heads of those traitors' - Fox News