Ottomans Reluctantly Left Qatar a Century Ago

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 13 June 2017)


100 years later, the Turks are back in Qatar.

The importance of the current Turkish base in Qatar has increased as
7 Arab countries implement an economic and political embargo against
that country.  According to Dr. Mehmet Tütüncu, head of the Turkish-Arab
World Research Center,  when the Ottoman Empire was forced to
withdraw from Qatar in 1914, it tried to set up a secret armed resistance
group in the region.

Tütüncü stated that "the Ottomans thought about setting up an irregular
resistance war unit in Qatar to fight against the British occupation there.
Documents from the Prime Minister's State Archives, reveal that Major
Ömer Fevzi, in charge of  Qatar affairs, made this proposal to the Ottoman
General Staff.  However, with the eruption of World War I, the Ottomans'
Qatar militia was never realized."

According to the document, the departing Ottoman military units forced
out of Qatar by the British, wanted to set up a resistance group from among
the local populace.  Tütüncü said that "Qatar entered under British
hegemony as the result of the London Agreement signed on 29 July 1913.
Major Ömer Fevzi's proposal for the resistance group is dated 14 April 1914."

The document containing Major Ömer Fevzi's plan was first mentioned in
a book written by Prof. Dr. Zekeriya Kurşun in 2004, entitled "The Ottomans
in Qatar, 1871-1916.  Ottoman-British Quarrel in the Persian Gulf".

 

Cover of Prof. Kurşun's book. Qatar is in lower right corner.