Qatar, Turkey conclude joint maritime exercise

The Directorate of Defence Communications (DDC) at the Ministry of Defence announced the conclusion of the two-day joint maritime exercise (Rapid Response) between Qatar Emiri Naval Forces (QENF) and its Turkish counterpart in the Qatari territorial waters.

The Director of Defence Communications, Lt. Col. Nawaf bin Mubarak bin Saif al-Thani, said in an official statement that "the Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF), Special Naval Force (SNF) of the Special Joint Forces, General Directorate of Coasts & Borders Security have also participated in the exercise."

Surface missile live fire also took place during the manoeuvres, in addition to the participation of the visiting Turkish TCG GOKOVA, one of Turkey's state-of-the-art naval assets.

For his part, Naval formation commander Lt. Col. (Sea) Falah Mahdi al-Ahbabi stated that "the exercise consisted of two phases. The first included joint maritime combat and anti-piracy anti-terror manoeuvres, while the second included joint manoeuvres in raiding and inspection of suspected ships as well as combat maritime manoeuvres."

The exercise between the Qatar Armed Forces (QAF) and its Turkish counterpart comes in accordance with the pre-planned and signed agreements and in the framework of the bilateral defence co-operation agreements between the two countries to support efforts to combat terrorism and violence in the AOR, cross-border smuggling and to preserve security and stability in the region.