 It's time to work again, and it's my great pleasure to introduce Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Hamad bin Yassim Altani. Sorry for my Arabic pronunciation, but I hope that you recognize your name anyway. Who is the Foreign Minister of Qatar? Many of you attended Qatar meeting the ninth edition of the World Policy Conference last year. And thank you again, Excellency, for your hospitality last year. And of course, when we met a year ago, nobody would have expected that such a deep crisis would explode again, even if we knew that the relations between Qatar and Saudi Arabia and the Emirates were not always simple. So we are now in an extremely complex situation, and we are going to listen to the Foreign Minister of Qatar, who will give us his perception of the current situation and how we could hope to get out of this mess, which has, of course, huge implications for Qatar, but for the Middle East in general. So, Minister, it's a great pleasure again to have you, and I have the pleasure to give you the floor now. The Minister will speak about 10 minutes, and after that we will take a few questions to have at least a little beginning of a real dialogue. First of all, good afternoon everybody, and thank you very much, Terry, for hosting me here today, and to such a distinguished audience from policymakers, to intellectuals, from business community. I hope that this session will be useful and informative for you, so I will make myself very brief in my remarks and give more time for the Q&A in order to address any of the questions or anything to be clarified from my side. And I would like also to thank the government of Morocco for making this gathering happen and hosting all this number of people, which we had the honour to host last year in Doha. World Policy Conference has become one of the most important events in the world of policy and international affairs. I just wanted to start today with one very simple question here, why the Middle East is an important region. For ages, the Middle East was the source of civilisations, was the root of languages, and the origin of different faiths. It was the international trade hub where it was connecting east to west, and the west to east, where the people can connect and can engage. And the keyword for this was the coexistence and the engagement of people from different backgrounds, from different ethnicities. Now the situation is turned and reverted. Unfortunately, we don't want this to revert to the dark ages. Where we have, where we before used to be the source of enlightenment, we don't want to become the source of turbulence for the world. I believe most of the international challenges now are happening in that region, in the Middle East, where you have a different ongoing conflicts from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Yemen, a humanitarian catastrophe there, Libya, a turbulent situation where it's spilling over everywhere in Europe and in Africa and the sub-Saharan area, the issue which is still ongoing in Iraq, and unfortunately the most horrifying situation in the recent history is what's happening now in Syria, where it's a continuous seven years of conflicts. And this conflict which was just started with a decent demand from the normal people asking for justice, asking for their rights, asking for some reforms, and unfortunately they were confronted with military action and bombardment, and now the situation has changed from the people's situation and the crisis of people to a crisis of terrorism, a crisis of extremism. In all, if we are going to look at all those conflicts, we will find there are different narratives. And normally they are using their religion as a scapegoat for those narratives, but if we are going to look at all of them, we will find one common theme here. And the common theme is that those who want power, who seek power, always create crisis. When we are looking at one example of Syria, as I've just mentioned here, we see that the government want to preserve power. That's why they are creating the crisis of people where more than 500,000 people being killed, more than 12 million being displaced. And all this is just for the sake of power, for the sake of power. The extremism are just nurturing there because of to achieve an influence there. They are not having the religion as the vision to achieve a religious state. Their vision is a political vision. They are using their religion here as a scapegoat for them to achieve this political vision. So it is all about game of power, game of influence here. Now, the same theme which is applied everywhere. We see that the most stable and the most promising region in the Middle East was the Gulf countries, where it has been the center of stability. It was the role model and the example for the cooperation in the collective security to achieve one common objective to maintain the security of the region and to have more prosperous future and more economic, better economic integration for the future of the people. This is, I'm sure everybody will recognize that I'm talking about the Gulf region, which was just like this before few months ago. When a crisis started out of nothing without any basis, we have seen suddenly that the Gulf countries, the GCC as an organization and specifically Qatar has becoming to the front page of every and each media outlet talking about the Middle East. A crisis which is happening in one of the most stable regions, which is happening in a region which is considered the source of energy in the world when it comes to oil, to LNG, to economic prosperity. A region which is really situated in very complicated neighborhood, it's just turning to another crisis within the same region. What are the motives of those crises? I'm going to ask anyone here, everybody's going to talk about different motives. Even me, who's the foreign minister of Qatar, whom I should know very well what is the reason of this crisis. I cannot give you a clear answer because I cannot judge and I cannot assess on behalf of others. I cannot stay guessing on behalf of countries which they are not willing to talk to me yet. This crisis, it's all started with a cyber attack. No one can imagine the effect and the spillover of the cyber crimes which is now becoming a phenomenon everywhere in Europe, in the United States, in Asia and now in the GCC. There is something wrong, ongoing, with all those conflicts. Why the international system couldn't solve and couldn't prevent any of those crises from happening? Aren't we in the age of preventive diplomacy? Aren't we in the age of engagement and dialogue? Or we are just reverting back to the age of confrontation, to the age of different war? Qatar has been always calling for dialogue for different conflicts. Qatar has been always acted as a platform for peace, as a peace broker. Qatar has brokered more than 10 peace deals in this region because we believe in dialogue. We believe that engagement is the best way forward to provide a solution for any crisis. Although the crisis has been created for those who seek power, but we believe that dialogue is the best way forward. There is another failure in the international system we found that cannot address the needs of the civilians and the protection of the civilians from becoming part of any political conflict. When we see that the civilians cannot be protected in different conflict zones, in Syria, in Yemen, in Libya, and now in Qatar. Although it's not the same difficulties our people facing, the same difficulties which are faced by the Syrians or the Yemeni or the Libyans or the Iraqi, but they are facing some difficulties when their families are being teared up because of a political conflict. When we have more than 26,000 human rights violations, it is a serious thing to provide a protection. It is our role and our obligation as a government to provide a protection for our own people. So why there is nothing and there is no mechanism in the international order in the 21st century to prevent this from happening? Why there is no any enforcement mechanism to protect our people, the Qatari people, the Syrian people, the people of the world, to protect the humanity from such escalation? So I believe this is a very important global challenge which I hope that such a gathering here for different politicians and different intellectuals come up with some recommendations for the international community to come together and really to face and confront the law of force to the force of law. To empower the law enforcement mechanisms, to empower the system itself in order to prevent and to protect our people. I don't want to take much time explaining about our situation, but we believe that our situation is just similar to the other situations. Yes, it's not on the same level and we hope to never reach this level of tension and we hope that it will be recovered and solved very soon. Not because we see that there are a lot of challenges within, but the challenges is really facing the entire region. And we believe that this region cannot afford more crisis. So if we are talking about a region which is not affording an additional crisis, we are talking about a needless crisis without any foundation. And we hope that the wisdom one day will prevail and the countries whom are trying to avoid the engagement, avoid talking, avoid addressing any of the security concerns which is our security concern if it's the same claim they are claiming. And come to the table and solve the issue. We have to learn from history. We cannot learn by experience. The entire world witnessed the same conflicts, the same crisis everywhere and took years and years. And at the end, none of them has been solved in a battlefield, none of them has been solved in a confrontation, all of them being solved around the table. And we hope that all the crises in the Middle East will be solved around the table. Thank you. Well, thank you very much, Excellency. I think you raised a number of questions which are very important and I think much in the spirit of this World Policy Conference namely to promote dialogue, negotiations, diplomacy, et cetera, et cetera. So these are very important points and now I invite those who would like to intervene to do so and I will start with our friend Jim Hoglund from the Washington Post. And then Renaud Girard, whom I say from Le Figaro. Mr. Minister, you've very eloquently outlined the impasse that's developed, the stalemate between you and Saudi Arabia on one side. The United States has very strong military relationship with Qatar but has taken a position of neutrality in this conflict. At what point will that begin to affect, that American position, begin to affect the military relationship between Qatar and the United States? Well, Qatar and the United States has enjoyed and still enjoying very good and strong relationship when it comes especially to the military relationship but also in other areas in economy and investment education. The strong military relationship between Qatar and the United States has been affected not in term of the strength of this relationship but really the global efforts to fight terrorism has been affected by this crisis. When we are hosting around 11,000 US troops in Qatar and we have the center of command for the global coalition and this country is under a blockade, of course it's affected when we have our soldiers fighting from the bases of some of the blockading countries There is a direct impact on the global efforts encountering terrorism, encountering Daesh, namely here. There is an impact even on our joint training when everybody has noticed that the defense department has suspended any joint training between the Gulf countries until this crisis resolved. There is a series of things which represented a great impact on the security relationship not on Qatar-US only but it's on US-GCC relationship and on US policy toward the Middle East and toward countering terrorism. Regarding the neutrality of the US position, US has been very consistent from the beginning and very clear in their position. They want this crisis to be resolved. Yes, we were the country, we are the country which is subject to this aggression from those four countries and we expected more of allies and more of friends to stand with us and to show that they are rejecting the violations of the international law that they are rejecting the humanitarian impact from this crisis. US has been one of the frontier in this and they have rejected the blockade. They have rejected that this crisis continue and they are trying to call for dialogue. But when you have any conflict or any crisis, there are always two parties of the crisis. If one of the parties are still unwilling to engage and to talk, you cannot put an end for this. Even if he will come by force to the dialogue table, he will never come with a good faith or with the intention to solve the problem. Qatar will remain in its position, have the best way forward for us is the dialogue and whenever they decide that they want to solve this crisis, Qatar will be there on the table, waiting for them with our friends and our allies with us in the United States or in the other friendly countries. Renaud Girard. The Turkish government has sent military troops to secure your country. What is the strength of this military alliance with Turkey? How do you see the future of the relationship between Turkey and Qatar? And second question, there is a much closer country to you, which is Iran, I mean closer geographically of course, and they helped you also with food and humanitarian aid. How do you assess your future relations with Iran and how do you assess the stability of the Gulf in the future with Iran on one side and Sunni monarchies on the other side of the Gulf? Thank you, sir. First, just regarding your question about the Turkish forces, first of all, Qatar and Turkey have very strong and strategic relationship. In the same way, in defense and in the economy, we have very strong investment ties and bilateral trade ties as well. And Turkey is an important regional country. It's an important country in the region. It is an NATO member, which we have a relation with other member states as well. We have the largest presence of troops, the US presence, and we have also a different defense cooperation agreement with other countries like France, the United Kingdom, and Turkey is one among them. Having them and having some of their troops in Doha, yes, it helps in the security of the country, but it's also in the context of a wider range of cooperation between our both countries, where we have also a representation from our military there in Angel League Base. We have our cooperation is governed by this agreement also within the global coalition countering Daesh coalition. So Turkey will remain an important regional player, yes, will remain a strong partner and strong ally for Qatar, but doesn't contradict with any of our partnerships or any of the other alliances we have. And once you surrender your sovereignty to give up on a military relation with Turkey, it will be just a starting point and then we might be asked in one day that we also kick the US troops outside Qatar or we end our defense cooperation with the France, or we do the same with UK or to do this and not to do that. This is something which is unacceptable for any sovereign nation to impose and to dictate something. As we say that if this was reflected on their demands because of some of the security concerns, first of all, they need to understand that the demands cannot be imposed on a sovereign state. If there is any conflict or any difference, there should be a dialogue and engagement and understanding and not a demand from a country toward another. So if they have any security concerns, we are willing to sit and to engage in a dialogue to address those concerns because their security concern will be our security concern. We are from the same region and there is a common threat we will be exposed to if they are going to be exposed to any threat. Regarding the future of our relationship with Iran, our relationship with Iran has been consistent since years. We didn't change our policy, although we have now different situations and different circumstances. When Qatar is blocked from three sides and I have just one way toward the north to fly or to send my shipments, which needs from me to intensify my communication with them. But at the end, the differences in policies between Qatar and Iran will remain there because the policy is normally based on principles, based on assessments. So those differences, how should we overcome? Is it by confrontation? It will not work and it will never work. And this is what we have been calling for since 2015. The irony here that in 2015, when the JCPOA be inside, President Obama has called all the member states in the GCC to Camp David to discuss and to address their security concern with Iran and he was encouraging the Gulf State to engage in dialogue with Iran. And when President Rouhani has expressed his willingness for dialogue to the Emir of Kuwait, all of the Gulf leaders agreed to engage in dialogue which is based on principles. And this agreement remained until the end of 2016. Now, when the same countries being invited by the President of the United States to engage in a dialogue about Qatar, no one has responded to this positively or no one has expressed his willingness to engage in such a dialogue. Just in summary, our relation with Iran will remain the same. The differences will be there until we overcome these differences by addressing those security concerns we have together. But we cannot afford a further escalation between, not between Qatar and Iran only, but between any country in the region and Iran. We believe in dialogue, we believe in engagement. Iran is a neighboring country for us. We share borders, we share a gas field together. We have more things between us. We need to address by dialogue and we cannot address by just escalating against each other or avoiding talking to each other. Because if we are going to remain avoiding talking to each other, the problem will remain there and it will never reach an end. And sometimes it might reach to a level which will create another crisis which the region cannot afford. I can take one last question. No, no, yes. No, no, no, one, sorry. Patriarch? No. Who? So you have the choice. Okay, so between Germany and Israel, I choose Israel. Okay, Ambassador Abinovich. Mr. Minister, Qatar has been a supporter of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. More recently, Hamas has grown close to Egypt and the reconciliation between Hamas and the Palestinian authorities is considered by many to have been inspired to a great extent by Egypt. Does that mean a distancing between yourselves and Hamas? Well, first, just let me make it very clear here. Qatar never supports Hamas. Qatar always supports the people of Gaza and supports the reconstruction effort of Gaza Strip. Hamas is a party which has positioned there in Gaza, yes, but the support has been always very transparent and visible for everyone including your government. They know very well where the money goes and they know the contribution of this support to the peace and stability of the Strip of Gaza, which prevents the Strip of Gaza from any potential war. And here we have used the principle in our policy in supporting the people and supporting the reconstruction and the resilience of the community as a mean of peace, as a mean of stability. And we have witnessed this stability now since the 2014. Hamas' relation with Qatar is a political representation where they have their office there, which has been very useful for everyone. When they were in Qatar, Qatar was a facilitator for different engagements whether to end the two wars in Gaza in 2008, 2009 and 2014, has been a facilitator for the reconciliation, the national reconciliation, which is the first step for any peace deal between the Palestinian and the Israeli. Now, with Hamas' relation with Egypt and Egypt's contribution in the reconciliation, Qatar was the first country welcomed this reconciliation between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority because we believe in the unity of the Palestinian as a precondition for any peace deal. Whoever is brokering this deal, Qatar will be helpful and will be welcoming. Qatar has taken now the funding of the reconstruction of the government facility there in Gaza because we believe in the unity of the Palestinian because not because Hamas today is in Egypt. I think the question needs to be asked for the countries who are using this narrative in the United States or with the Western audience that it is the reason for them to blockade my country. Their reason and their claims now that Qatar is supporting Hamas why they never disconnected themselves with Hamas or they never considered Hamas as a terrorist organization. Just now they start to talk about it and suddenly we find Hamas in Egypt being praised by the Egyptian government and by the other government. So Qatar's position has been very clear and has been very transparent and very visible to everyone. We will continue supporting the people there in Gaza because they are people who are in need and we believe that our support and our contribution in Gaza has contributed to the peace and the stability of the region and we will be the first to celebrate any national unity between the Palestinians themselves. Well, thank you very much Minister. I think it was a very interesting and useful conversation. So thank you very much again. And as we can guess now, they wish to eat a little bit. So do we allow them? No, no, no. But I think we should allow them to. And ourselves too. Thank you very much.