FM Çavuşoğlu, US counterpart Tillerson discuss Qatar in phone call

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has discussed the Qatar crisis and recent developments in Syria and Iraq with his U.S. counterpart Rex Tillerson in a phone call.

According to diplomatic sources, the phone call was conducted late Saturday upon Tillerson's request.

Çavuşoğlu also attended Saturday a meeting at the Huber Presidential Mansion with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Bahrain's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa to discuss the ongoing diplomatic spat between several Arab countries and Qatar.

In a joint press conference after the meeting, the foreign minister said that the dispute should be resolved before the end of Ramadan, underlining that Turkey would continue its efforts to resolve the crisis.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Binalı Yıldırım warned Saturday during his speech at an Iftar dinner with business figures at the Dolmabahçe Palace that the Qatar dispute could become a global problem due to the geostrategic nature of the region if the tension goes up, calling the parties involved in the dispute to "act responsibly and contribute to reducing the tension rather than increasing it".

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