39th Gulf Cooperation Council summit ends in Riyadh

RIYADH

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members sought to remove obstacles ahead of the common Gulf market to ensure the economic unity till 2025 and quickly complete the procedures to implement Joint Gulf military command.

39th GCC summit held in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh ended, the Secretary-General Abdellatif al-Zayani read the closure declaration in which member countries underscored their loyalty to the organization.

The declaration called on to form a route map to complete the integration between member states and ensure financial unity until 2025.

It was noted that GCC would combat radicalism, be loyal to the superiority of law and operate together with the international partners to fight terrorism, noting that the member states should pursue a common foreign policy to be distanced with the regional and global conflicts.

GCC declaration also emphasized that it would continue to support fellow states, the Palestinian cause, and Yemen.

The next summit is going to be held under the United Arab Emirates (UAE) presidency.

The one-day summit this year included Bahrain's King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa, Kuwaiti Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Oman’s Deputy Prime Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Saidi on behalf of Sultan Qaboos bin Said, Dubai ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on behalf of UAE President Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, and Qatari Foreign Minister Sultan bin Saad al-Muraikhi on behalf of Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

The Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani didn't attend the summit despite having been officially invited by the Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz.

In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE Bahrain collectively severed ties with Doha, accusing it of supporting terrorism, and imposed an air/land/sea embargo on Qatar, which vociferously denies the allegations.

*Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this story from Ankara