Erdoğan receives Bahraini FM in Istanbul, discuss Qatar row

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with Bahrain's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa in Istanbul on Saturday amid the ongoing diplomatic spat between several Arab countries and Qatar.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also attended to the meeting taking place at the Huber Presidential Mansion.

Following the meeting, Çavuşoğlu said in a joint press conference with Khalifa that Erdoğan told Bahraini foreign minister that the Qatar dispute should be resolved before end of the Muslims' holy month of Ramadan.

He added that Turkey would continue its efforts to resolve the dispute, as Qatar faces isolation imposed by fellow Arab states over its alleged support for terrorism.

Turkish foreign minister also said Turkey's military base in Qatar, to which the parliament approved legislation on deploying Turkish troops on Wednesday and signed into law by Erdoğan, was aimed at contributing to the security of the entire Gulf region and was not aimed at a specific Gulf state.

The visit came after Turkey's call for a diplomatic solution to the crisis and offer to play a mediatory role.

Starting from June 5, Bahrain, Comoros, Egypt, Maldives, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen's internationally backed government and one of Libya's three governments have cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar over accusations that the Gulf nation funds militant groups.

Several other Muslim nations also downgraded their diplomatic ties with Qatar.