by Burak Akinci
ANKARA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Turkey has engaged in laborious efforts to act as a mediator in the current Qatar crisis between the Arab nations of the Gulf, but its apparent proximity to this country which has investments into her economy make things delicate.
Turkey called on Monday for dialogue and said it was ready to help defuse the row between Qatar and Arab nations including Saudi Arabia and Egypt that accuse Doha of supporting extremism.
"It's a development that really saddened all of us," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters.
"There could be problems between the countries but dialogue must prevail in all circumstances," he said, adding that Ankara was ready to do its best to help resolve the row.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately held talks via telephone with regional leaders on lowering the tensions, according to his office.
Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen joined Saudi Arabia and Egypt in severing relations with gas-rich Qatar, with Riyadh accusing Doha of supporting groups, including some backed by Iran.
But the challenge Turkey is facing is that the Muslim Brotherhood, condemned by the country's who have severed ties with Doha, is staunchly supported by President Erdogan and his regime.
Qatar has recently emerged as one of the most important states for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). After a visit to Qatar in February, President Erdogan praised the economic value of bilateral ties.
According to experts,Qatari investments in Turkey amounts to 1.5 billion U.S. dollars.
But this is really a drop in the bucket, given that Qatar's direct investments overseas amount to 53 billion dollars, while foreign direct investment in Qatar is worth 36 billion dollars.
Yet data show that Qatari investments in Turkey have been on the rise since 2013.
Out of the 1.5 billion dollars in total, 1.2 billion dollars comes from investments made in the past four years.
The main Qatari investments include poultry producer Banvit; a 50 percent stake in armored vehicle manufacturer BMC, two banks, Finansbank and ABank; the pay TV Digiturk; and investments in the real estate sector.
The short term objective of the AKP administration, which faces economic problems after years of prolonged growth since first coming to power in 2002, is to lure more direct investment from Qatar, but also to increase Turkey's share in major infrastructure projects that the emirate has launched in preparation for its hosting of the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament in 2022.
No doubt, Qatar's wealth and energy resources make it an attractive trade partner for any regional or global player, not just Turkey.
The tiny emirate, where expatriates make up 83 percent of the 2.5 million-strong population, boasts a per capita income of about 75,000 dollars, which places Qataris on top of the world's richest and whets the appetite of business aspirants.
The emirate's energy resources, 25 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, the third-largest reserve in the world, in addition to 25 billion barrels in oil reserves, represent another major incentive for close ties with Qatar, now and in the future.
Injections of Qatari money has brought some relief to Turkey's faltering finances and the Ankara government wants absolutely that this goes on, fearing that the current crisis has an impact on bilateral ties.
"This rift seems something regional for the moment and should not hamper relations between Turkey and Qatar," said to Xinhua international finance analyst Enver Erkan, from KapitalFx.
But he also warns that if the dispute lingers on, Turkey's trade volume with this rich Arab state may be disrupted because of the repercussions that it could have on the Qatari economy in general.
Turkey's decision to be involved in this crisis where she is not quite neutral, seemingly preferring Qatar over her other ally Saudi Arabia, will prove a test of its diplomatic capabilities.
Conservative Turkish columnist Yusuf Kaplan from the pro-government daily Yeni Safak, tweeted Turkey's support for Qatar, indicating that in this dispute "The main target is Turkey."
Pro-government accounts followed suit and praised the partnership between Ankara and Doha, seeing in Qatar's isolation a concerted campaign of the U.S. and Israel against the Muslim Brotherhood, which may also in time spread to Turkey.
"This dispute is not what we want to see in our region confronted to many hardships. We will do the almost to find ways to prevent an escalation and try to resolve it," said to Xinhua a Turkish diplomatic source on condition of anonymity.
"We are underlining to the interested parties the importance of focusing solemnly on the path of dialogue and diplomacy" to end the fierce spat for problems to be resolved peacefully, added this source.
Turkey also finds itself increasingly isolated in the Syria crisis, clinging on Qatar's direct financial support to arm rebel forces there at war with the Damascus regime that Ankara wants to get rid off and virulently blacklisted since the beginning of hostilities.
While some experts underline the importance of the Turkish-Qatari partnership and fear the impact on Ankara that this Gulf crisis may yield, they also indicate that the current feud will not isolate Turkey in the war thorn region.
"Turkey's relations with Gulf States is generally positive, as she also has normalized her ties with Israel. I don't see as realistic a scenario where Turkey would be isolated," explained to Xinhua Can Acun, a political analyst at the Ankara based thinktank SETA foundation.
He also warned that the alienation of Doha would negatively affect the support given to the Syrian opposition. "We will have to wait and see if Qatar's Syrian policy will change or not," he added.
