As the crisis between Qatar and some Muslim countries continues unabated amid efforts for a settlement, Turkey's siding with Doha has been criticized for not serving the country's interests while ruining its chance of mediation.
"Ankara's excessively one-sided intrusion in the crisis may lead to a loss of sympathy, respect and funds from Saudi Arabia and others in the anti-Qatar camp," Faruk Logoglu, a former diplomat, told Xinhua.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain as well as several other Muslim nations including Egypt cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar at the beginning of last week. They also closed off sea, air and land links to the tiny Gulf country, accusing it of funding terrorism, hosting terrorists and interfering in their internal affairs.
Doha, for its part, dismissed the claim as unjustified.
Two days after the crisis broke out, the Turkish parliament swiftly ratified a deal to deploy troops to Qatar that was signed in late 2014.
Ilhan Uzgel, a senior analyst of international relations, feels that Turkey's pro-Qatar policy brings serious risks to itself.
"By taking the Qatari side, Turkey confronts a huge Sunni block that stretches from North Africa to the Maldives," he told Xinhua.
The Turkish military said in a statement on Tuesday that a three-member military delegation went to Qatar in preparation for the establishment of a military base there.
According to Turkish media reports, there are already around 100 troops and some armored vehicles stationed in the Turkish base in Qatar.
"Promptly dismissing all allegations against Doha and by squarely siding with Qatar, Turkey has effectively disqualified itself from any role in mediating the crisis," said Logoglu, who once held senior posts in the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed that Ankara would not abandon Doha, saying "we will continue to give all kinds of support to Qatar."
He also expressed total disbelief about Doha's alleged support for terrorism by declaring that "I've never witnessed Qatari support for terrorism."
"Turkey is supposed to be one of the countries that could play a mediator role but it opted for a pro-Qatar position," said Uzgel, who taught at Ankara University until a couple of months ago.
In a joint statement, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt accused 59 individuals and 12 charity organizations in Qatar of having links with terrorism, including the Muslim Brotherhood and the al-Qaida-linked terror group Fatah al-Sham, formerly known as al-Nusra Front.
On Tuesday, the Turkish president described the claims against Qatar as "slander" and stressed that the designation of Qatar as guilty would do no good to the region.
He also said that it falls on Saudi Arabia as the leading Gulf country to pave the way for the resolution of the conflict through dialogue.
Countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt recognize the Muslim Brotherhood as a terror group, while it is not blacklisted as such by many others, including Qatar and Turkey, as well as the United Nations.
Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are also highly disturbed about Qatar having good ties with Shiite Iran, which they see as a major threat.
Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) argued that remaining neutral in the conflict would serve more Turkey's best interests.
"Turkey should have managed to remain neutral," said Cetin Osman Budak, the party's deputy chairman.
Stressing that supporting a party in a conflict makes one part of the problem, he added that "if you stay in the middle, then you would become part of the solution."
