Bahrain foreign minister to visit Turkey, discuss regional developments - Turkish foreign ministry

Ankara: Bahrain`s foreign minister will visit Turkey on Saturday and meet with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to discuss recent developments in the region, the Turkish foreign ministry said.

Bahrain joined Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and several other countries on Monday when it cut diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing its fellow Gulf Arab state of backing terrorism and interfering in Bahrain`s internal affairs.

Bahrain Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa will meet with Erdogan on Saturday, the foreign ministry said, without giving other details.

Erdogan has said isolating Qatar would not resolve any problems. Erdogan, who has long tried to play the role of a regional power broker, said Ankara would do everything in its power to help end the regional crisis.

Late on Thursday, Erdogan`s office said he had approved legislation on deploying Turkish troops to Qatar, which hosts a Turkish military base, in an apparent sign of support for the its Arab ally facing isolation, and pledged to provide food and water supplies.

Turkey has maintained good relations with Qatar as well as several of its Gulf Arab neighbours. Turkey and Qatar have both provided support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and backed rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Qatar vowed on Thursday to ride out the isolation and said it would not compromise its sovereignty over foreign policy to resolve the region`s biggest diplomatic crisis in years.