Trump is spending the weekend at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. "This is what we expect from Saudi, the Custodian of the Holy Mosques [in Mecca and Medina]", Erdogan added.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties and transportation links with Qatar on Monday. "The nation of Qatar has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level", he said, speaking from the Rose Garden.
Tillerson said that the United States will throw its weight behind efforts by the Emir of Kuwait to act as a mediator to bring about a resolution to the crisis, which was reportedly sparked by an interview with the Qatari leader that Qatar said was a false news story.
Qatar isn't the only Gulf nation accused of not sufficiently cracking down on support for extremist groups. Saudi Arabia, however, is locked in a regional power struggle with Iran.
Qatar, however, is not entirely without support.
Since the spat began this week, Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera has come under a wide scale cyber attack after being banned in numerous countries taking part in the Saudi-led onslaught against Qatar. "We ask that there be no further escalation by parties in the region", Tillerson said.
It comes as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson tries to calm the worst diplomatic crisis in the Persian Gulf in years. He dismissed as "fantasy" a Saudi media report that he had met in Baghdad with the head of Iran's Quds Force, controlled by Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards.
In Moscow, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his country will undertake every effort to help ease the tensions.
Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani called the moves by Arab neighbors and others "clear violations of worldwide law and global humanitarian law".
Trump too had offered possible mediation earlier in the week.
On Friday the two countries imposed sanctions on 59 individuals and a dozen organisations based in Qatar for financial ties to Islamist militias from Libya to Yemen, as well as Al Qaeda. They suspended flights and sea travel to Qatar, expelling its diplomats and citizens.
Erdogan Ratifies Deployment of Turkish Troops to Qatar
Arab countries have put 12 organizations and 59 people they say are associated with energy rich Qatar on a terror sanctions list. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was also ready to support diplomatic efforts "if desired by all parties", his spokesman said.
Majority of Qatar's white sugar imports, estimated at around 100,000 tonnes annually, come from the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
In separate statements Saturday, they lauded Trump for his supportive stance.
In a shock to many, President Trump backed the coalition's decision, saying that "perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!" Other U.S. officials have said Qatar has already taken some steps to reduce terror funding but that the steps are insufficient.
In an extraordinary broadside against a key USA partner, President Donald Trump lambasted Qatar on Friday for funding terrorism "at a very high level" and insisted that it stop.
Kuwait's ruler has been trying to mediate an end to the conflict.
Amnesty International on June 9 criticised the measures against Qatar as sweeping and arbitrary and said they had split up families and destroyed peoples' livelihoods and education.
"And in the wake of that conference, nations came together and spoke to me about confronting Qatar over its behavior", Trump said Friday.
But Tillerson also noted that other countries must do more - and he urged Riyadh and its allies to soften their embargo.
Sheikh Khaled, in comments translated from Arabic to Turkish, said he had told Erdogan about the actions of Qatar which led to the dispute, and added that there should be a guarantee that Qatar will not continue its current actions. Many Qataris also live in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and UAE.
"People from across the region. risk losing jobs and having their education disrupted".
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