Turkey and Qatar in joint military exercises

Turkish and Qatari navies, carried out a joint exercise in the Gulf Arab country, in a sign of growing military ties between the two nations.

Hundreds of troops from both sides participated in the excercise, dubbed Iron Shield.

The Qatari military said the exercise was aimed at exchanging information, training senior military officials, and improving coordinating between the two forces to boost security.

In addition to the naval drill, Qatari and Turkish infantry and artillery forces took part in a ground training exercise.

Turkey's parliament on June 5 fast-tracked the approval of an April 2016 agreement with Qatar on the implementation of troops' deployment to the Turkish military base. It also approved a December 2015 agreement that allows the Turkish military to train Qatari security forces.

UCJ, UNILORIN.