Erdogan arrives in Kuwait as trip to Gulf region continues

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday has continued his two-day Gulf tour with Kuwait after leaving the Saudi city of Jeddah as part of a diplomatic tour aimed at healing an Arab rift with Ankara's ally Qatar.

Erdogan's first stop on a Gulf diplomatic tour was in Saudi Arabia where he held separate meetings with Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud on Sunday.

Erdogan and Saudi King Salman discussed "efforts to combat terrorism and its sources of funding," the Saudi press agency reported, without elaborating.

The visit came amid a Gulf crisis after four Arab states -- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt – cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed sanctions on Doha on June 5, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

Doha denies the charges and describes the blockade as a violation of international law.

The boycotting countries want Qatar to close down a Turkish base, curb relations with their arch-foe Iran and close down the state-run Al Jazeera TV channel.

Erdogan will visit Qatar on Monday for his first face-to-face talks with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani since the crisis began.

"No one has any interest in prolonging this crisis anymore," Erdogan said before leaving Istanbul.

He accused "enemies" of seeking to "fire up tensions between brothers" in the region.

Erdogan praised Qatar's behaviour in the crisis, saying Doha had sought to find a solution through dialogue.

"I hope our visit will be beneficial for the region," he said.

The Turkish president is being accompanied by a high-profile delegation that includes Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak, Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli, Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, and National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) head Hakan Fidan.