Fifa World Cup 2022: Türkiye considers deploying soldiers to Qatar to boost World Cup security
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has asked the country’s parliament to authorise the deployment of troops to Qatar to provide security
- It follows a request from Qatar for security support during the competition, Erdoğan said in a letter on Saturday to the legislature
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has asked the country’s parliament to authorise the deployment of troops to Qatar to provide security during World Cup 2022 in late November, the state-run news agency Anadolu reported.
It follows a request from Qatar for security support during the competition, Erdoğan said in a letter on Saturday to the legislature, which is dominated by his ruling party and nationalist allies.
The Turkish Armed Forces personnel will help secure the tournament, which is expected to attract more than 1 million visitors, against “terrorism” threats among others, Erdoğan’s request letter read.
Helping Qatar - with which Türkiye has an “exceptional cooperation” and “historical, cultural ties” - will help stability in Gulf region as well, Erdoğan added.
Türkiye already has a military base in Qatar.
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Under a protocol signed between Türkiye and Qatar and published in Türkiye’s Official Gazette earlier this summer, Ankara will deploy riot police, bomb specialists and sniffer dogs for the World Cup which will run between November 21 and December 18.
More than 3,000 Turkish riot police would be deployed to secure the event, according to Türkiye’s Interior Ministry.
It was not immediately clear if the troop mandate was related to the police deployment plans.
