DOHA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Qatar announced that more Turkish troops had arrived at a military base in Doha, Qatar News Agency reported Wednesday morning.
A statement released by Qatar's Ministry of Defence said this new batch includes elements of the Turkish Joint Forces Command.
The move came according to the joint defence agreement signed between Qatar and Turkey in 2014, which had been started to activate its terms on June 2017, especially after the eruption of the ''Gulf crisis.''
The report said that the new batch will begin military exercises with the Qatari armed forces to increase joint military capabilities.
Ankara has backed Qatar after Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain have diplomatically isolated Qatar. The blockading countries accused Doha of supporting Islamist extremists and of being too close to Iran, Riyadh's arch-rival.
Qatar which is home to the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East with roughly 10,000 personnel, has vehemently denied all charges by Saudi-led blockading countries.
