ANKARA

 Turkey has ratified the military cooperation agreement with Qatar, according to the Official Gazette published Monday.

According to the military agreement, signed by Turkey and Qatar in December 2014, mechanisms to allow the deployment of joint forces if needed will be put in place. Both countries will exchange operational training experiences, cooperate in defense industry and hold joint military exercises.

Both countries will also allow the use of each other's ports, airports, air space. Turkey and Qatar have also agreed to cooperate in fighting terrorism.

Turkey and Qatar's military cooperation comes at a time when the Middle East is facing heightened security concerns, with the Syrian civil war, the fight against Daesh in Iraq and Syria as well as conflicts in Yemen and Libya. 

The two countries have similar foreign policies concerning certain geopolitical events in recent years, namely stances against the Syrian Assad regime, and against the military coup against Egypt’s first democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi in Egypt.