Thread by @nordicmonitor

1) @nordicmonitor reveals the full text of implementation deal for military agreement between #Turkey & #Qatar that allowed Turkey to set up a base in Doha. The agreement is full of loopholes and vague terms that appear to have been deliberately inserted. nordicmonitor.com/2019/01/turkey…

2) The bilateral agreement would allow Turkish President Recep Tayyip #Erdogan to use Turkish air, land and naval assets to promote his own ideological and personal interests in the Gulf and beyond by using the hard power of the NATO military alliance’s second largest army.

3) The agreement carries huge risks of escalation of Turkey’s involvement in conflicts that may have nothing to do with protecting or promoting Turkey’s national interests. The vagueness in the deal were deliberate & systematic to allow Erdogan to use them as he sees fit.

4) The agreement goes beyond training and joint exercises & incorporates “operations,” which may very well suggest combat missions for Turkish troops.

5) The agreement was rushed through the cumbersome and slow-moving process in the Turkish Parliament when Turkey wanted to send a message to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other Arab states that had picked a fight with Qatar, Erdogan’s sweetheart Islamist ally.

6) Article 4 of the agreement which was signed on April 28, 2016 in Doha, includes the undefined phrase “any other missions” for the deployment of Turkish troops.

7) This means Erdoğan can bypass the Turkish Parliament for authorization of overseas missions, using the vague definition to fit his whims & would not need to obtain the advance approval from Parliament that is required for deployment of Turkish troops abroad per Constitution.

8) “The main mission of the unit is to support enhancement of defense capabilities of Qatar through joint/combined exercises and training...contribute to the counter-terrorism and international peace support operations & any other missions mutually agreed upon by.. both parties.”

9) Another ambiguity in the agreement, which was incorporated into Turkish law on June 9, 2017, is that it does not say how long Turkish troops will remain in Qatar.

10) Article 1 says the deal regulates “the long term, as well as temporary, presence and activities of Turkish Armed Forces.” What “the long term” prospect is and who defines the duration of the commitment for Turkish troops and on what criteria are not specified in the agreement

11) Article 17 specifies the duration of the agreement to be 10 years with automatic renewals for an additional term of five years for each extension. Whether that term applies to the presence of troops remains an open question.

12) The agreement does not specify force level or the number of troops. Article 2 states that Turkey will send air, land and naval assets to Qatar without setting any number or level of the forces.

13) Turkey will make a determination on “the duration of the mission of personnel to be assigned.” Furthermore, Turkey’s military agreement with Qatar does not foresee a third-party dispute settlement mechanism, either.

14) Article 16 of the agreement says disputes “shall be resolved by negotiation between the Parties, without referring to the jurisdiction of any third party, establishment, or national or international tribunal.”

15) This implementation agreement is a followup of the “framework” military cooperation agreement that was signed by the two countries on December 19, 2014 & entered into force on June 15, 2915.

16) Turkey considers ties with Qatar to be strategic, & Turkey’s Erdogan and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Al Thani in 2014 set up a High-Level Strategic Council (HLSC), an intergovernmental mechanism that brings together most ministers at summits led by the heads of state & govt