Tajikistan welcomes lifting of sanctions against Qatar

A statement released by the Tajik Foreign Ministry on January 7, in particular, says the Republic of Tajikistan welcomes the outcomes of the 41st Summit of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf which was held in Al-Ula, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on January 5, 2021.

“The Republic of Tajikistan believes that the signing of the Al-Ula Declaration by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the State of Kuwait, the Kingdom of Bahrain, Sultanate of Oman, the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Qatar is a right step towards normalization of relations and strengthening security, stability and prosperity in the region.”

Recall, four Arab countries – Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain – imposed an air, land and sea blockade on Qatar in 2017.  The blocking states cut diplomatic and trade ties with Doha, claiming that it supported “terrorism” and that its ties with Iran were too close.

Their measures also affected Qatari students studying abroad and Muslims wanting to make the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia.

Qatar has vehemently rejected the claims and said there was “no legitimate justification” for severing relations.

In a report published on November 12, 2020, UN Special Rapporteur on the negative effects of sanctions on human rights, Alena Douhan, called for the blockading nations to “immediately withdraw all sanctions/measures aimed at establishing restrictions on freedom of expression, movement, access to property, trade barriers, and ban tariffs, quotas, non-tariff measures … for people living in Qatar in violation of international legal standards.”

A breakthrough has been reached in Qatar's three-year-old rift with Saudi Arabia and three other Arab countries and an agreement to end their dispute was signed in Saudi Arabia on January 5. Gulf Arab leaders gathered in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for an annual summit that announced a deal towards ending the rift.