Turkey's Erdogan calls for Qatar row to be resolved by end of Ramadan

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Bahrain's Foreign Minister that the dispute between Qatar and other Arab states should be resolved by the end of the holy month of Ramadan, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday.

In a joint news conference with Bahrain's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Cavusoglu said Turkey would continue its efforts to resolve the dispute, as Qatar faces isolation imposed by fellow Arab states over its alleged support for terrorism.

Cavusoglu also said Turkey's military base in Qatar, to which Erdogan approved legislation on deploying Turkish troops, was aimed at contributing to the security of the entire Gulf region and was not aimed at a specific Gulf state.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt severed relations with Qatar on Monday, accusing it of supporting Islamist militants and their arch-adversary Iran - allegations Qatar says are baseless. Several countries followed suit, while Erdogan vowed to keep supporting Qatar and rejected accusations that it supported terrorism.