Just days after president Trump left the region, a geopolitical earthquake is taking place in the Middle East tonight as the rift between Qatar and other members of the (likely extinct) Gulf Cooperation Council explodes with Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt cutting all diplomatic ties with Qatar accusing it of "speading chaos," by funding terrorism and supporting Iran.
Authored by Cyril Widderhoven via OilPrice.com,
The cohesion of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes all Arab Gulf countries, seems to be cracking.
Submitted by Judith Bergmann via The Gatestone Institute,
The Panama Papers leak was for appetizers. The real leak, one which took place quietly and under the radar a few days ago, and may have exposed far more wealthy and important individuals, was that of the Qatar National Bank - the Middle East's largest lender by assets - where a massive 1.5 GB data dump posted online last week exposed the personal data of thousands of clients.
The Turkish Minister of Defence İsmet Yılmaz has announced plans to continue Turkey’s aggressive military expansion in the Middle East, saying that a new multipurpose military base in Qatar will be opened within the next two years. “This base will allow Turkey to participate in combat operations in the Red Sea, the North of Africa, and the Persian Gulf,” Yılmaz said.