“During the meeting with the GCC [Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Oman], new opportunities for cooperation that has already been established in various fields will be reviewed, and new opportunities of cooperation will be evaluated,” a Foreign Ministry statement said on Tuesday. The note also added that Turkey and the Arab Gulf states would exchange views “on regional and international issues that fall within the scope of Turkey and the GCC's common interests.”
The fourth foreign ministers' meeting between Turkey and the GCC comes at a time when countries in the Gulf are feeling increasingly threatened by Iran's latest moves, which point toward the possibility that Iran might try to block the Strait of Hormuz, the entry point of the Gulf and the main artery for the GCC countries.
Last week, Tehran warned its regional neighbors to refrain from developing close ties with the US and to not find themselves in “a dangerous position,” in what appeared to be a clear warning to US allies in the Middle East, led by the GCC countries, not to support the escalating Western sanctions against Iran.
Earlier this month, the US announced that it would seek to impose sanctions to clamp down on Iranian export of crude oil, a decision further strengthened by an EU move last week to break all EU deals to purchase Iranian crude, starting from the summer.
Following the news of the Western sanctions, the GCC countries were expected to increase their output of crude oil to make up for the loss of Iran's on the market, and Saudi Arabia said it could make up the shortage. In response to the developments, Iranian officials warned twice that Iran could block Hormuz, through which large shipments of oil are made from the Middle East, challenging the GCC not to side with the sanction makers.
Senior Iranian officials, however, deny this possibility and are looking for alternative ways to trade their crude with the rest of the world, which fears fallout from Western sanctions. Although Turkey is a staunch ally of the US and a dedicated partner to NATO, it says sanctions against Iran would not affect its business with the county on the grounds that Turkey only feels obliged to follow UN-imposed measures against Iran.
