ANKARA Adeiny Hechavarria Rays Jersey , Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's official visit to Qatar highlighted common positions between the two countries on regional issues as well as intensified cooperation on energy and infrastructure agreements.
"Our views about regional issues have by and large overlapped with those of Qatar," Erdogan said before departure for Qatar on Sunday for a two-day trip, which is his first presidential visit to the Arab world after his presidential election victory in August.
The threat posed by the militant Islamic State (IS) was also on the agenda of the Turkish president whose country will take part in NATO-endorsed coalition to counter IS but was reluctant to take part in combat operations against the group.
Both Turkey and Qatar have been criticized by Arab nations and the West for their support of the Muslim Brotherhood as well as Hamas. They have taken critical position against Egypt's current leadership after the ouster of Mohammed Morsi. They have also opposed to Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria and supported the opposition against Damascus.
"Qatar has been criticized (along with Turkey) for the last two years by the media and politicians in the West for helping Islamist arms group fighting against the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria Authentic Wilson Ramos Jersey , thus contributing to the development of radical groups like al-Nusra and IS," said Murat Yetkin, political analyst in Turkey.
However Authentic Wade Boggs Jersey , yielding to the pressure from his Gulf and Arab allies, Qatar has signaled that he will crack down on the Brotherhood.
Amr Darrag, an Egyptian leading member of Freedom and Justice Party which is banned by Egypt for being affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood Authentic Trevor Plouffe Jersey , said that several top members of the Muslim Brotherhood have been asked to leave Qatar.
Qatar also signed on to the U.S.-led offensive against IS.
"Qatar, which is known to be a major financial source for Islamist groups, has agreed to take part in military attacks against IS Authentic Steven Souza Jersey ," Murat Yetkin underlined.
Turkey also eyes a bigger slice in construction projects in Qatar, most specifically as part of Arab nation's investment to prepare for the 2020 football world cup.
Erdogan said he will discuss with Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani about opportunities for Turkish companies in taking part of major projects such as subway and stadium construction projects before this championship.
Turkey is also seeking to purchase more natural gas from Qatar as part of its diversification policy among its suppliers that are mainly composed of Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan.
During the visit Authentic Sergio Romo Jersey , Erdogan is expected to broker a deal to purchase 1.2 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar for the 2014-2015 winter season.
Although the amount of procurement is not that big, the agreement with world's largest LNG producer Qatar is important in terms of Turkey's commitment on diversifying its suppliers.
The Turkish president also underlined that the security of Gulf is important for Turkey as Ankara sees the relations with the Gulf from strategic perspective, adding that "The security and stability in the Gulf is as important as Turkey's own security and stability."
Turkey's troubled relations with the Egypt and its support of Muslim Brotherhood strained Ankara's ties with the most of Gulf countries Authentic Matt Duffy Jersey , especially Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
Mesut Cevikalp, foreign policy expert, said in Ankara that Turkey needs to repair its ties with the Gulf and pay attention to sensitivities of Arab governments on political Islam.
TORONTO, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Toronto Raptors ended their five-game winless streak with a 102-86 victory over Milwaukee Bucks in Friday evening's NBA game.
With the win, Toronto improves to 29-18 on the season and 16-8 at Air Canada Centre, which has been sold out for a franchise-record 115 consecutive regular season and playoff games.
Raptors guard Kyle Lowry scored a game-high 32 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field, including three three-pointers. The 30-year-old native of Philadelphia was named an All-Star for a third straight season yesterday.
Toronto was without DeMar DeRozan, their other All-Star, who has missed three straight games due to a sprained right ankle sustained in their Jan. 22 loss to Phoenix. DeRozan is leading the team in scoring averaging 27.9 points per game.
Filling in for DeRozan is sophomore guard Norman Powell, who has scored in double-digits all three games, averaging 18.7 points on 46.2 percent shooting. In Friday's victory, Powell chipped in with 19 points and six rebounds.
Raptors head coach Dwane Casey never doubted his team and believed they would snap out of the losing skid sooner rather than later.
"Everybody has their own philosophy and feelings about what's wrong and what's right, what we should have been doing, what we're not doing," said Casey after the game. "It's about going out and playing, guys just don't forget how to play basketball."
Casey's squad were in control the whole game. After taking a 15-13 lead in the middle of the first quarter, Raptors never relinquished the lead. Milwaukee would cut the deficit to as low as seven points by the end of the third quarter before the game was back to double-digits.
"Tonight was an overall team effort. Everybody stepped up and played a big role in the last couple of games, so we understand what we have to do and tonight," said Lowry after the game. "We played hard. We needed to get out of the losing streak and everyone felt that."
Toronto's defence held Milwaukee to 31-for-80 (38.8 percent) from the field, the sixth time all season the team has held an opponent below 40 percent. The 86 points allowed was also the fewest points the team has allowed in the last 20 games.