Turkey rejects 'baseless' Arab League decisions

ANKARA

Turkey on Friday "completely rejected" the decisions adopted in Wednesday's Arab League foreign ministers meeting.

Underlining that the decisions targeting Turkey were "unrequited" among the people of "friendly and brotherly" Arab countries, a statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry called on some members of the league to end their "insistence on stereotypical accusations against our country with aims to cover up their destructive activities."

The ministry also emphasized that some league members had noted their opposition to the decisions, which had been "adopted as a result of imposition by various actors without conducting a transparent negotiation process between the member countries."

With its "principled and resolute stance," Turkey is one of the countries that devotes the greatest effort to ensure "regional and global peace and stability of security," the ministry stressed.

It further underscored that preserving the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political unity of the Arab countries were among Turkey's top priorities for the region.

"We again invite the Arab League to prioritize the peace, prosperity and well-being of the Arab people and to constructively contribute to the establishment of security and stability in the region, instead of targeting our country with baseless allegations," it added.

On March 3, the foreign ministers of Arab League member countries convened in Egypt's capital Cairo, where the chairmanship of the meeting was transferred from Egypt to Qatar.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt signed a reconciliation deal with Qatar during a Gulf Cooperation Council summit on Jan. 5 this year to end a more than three-year feud.

The four countries had severed diplomatic and trade relations with Qatar in 2017, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism.

Qatar vehemently denied the accusation, saying the land, sea and air blockade was an attempt to infringe on its sovereignty.