Five Arrested in Connection with Hacking of Qatar News Agency in Turkey

The Attorney General of Qatar announced that five suspects have been arrested in Turkey in connection with the hacking of the country's official news agency. In June of this year, statements attributed to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani were published by the official news agency of Qatar, but Doha immediately announced that the agency and its Twitter accounts had been hacked. In those statements, the Emir of Qatar referred to Iran as an important country and called for de-escalation with Tehran. It was also reported that Sheikh Tamim mentioned that Qatar has a continuous relationship with Israel while also referring to Hezbollah in Lebanon as a resistance movement. Despite Qatar's insistence that the news was fake, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt severed all relations with Doha on June 15 and took comprehensive actions against the country. These countries set 13 conditions for Qatar and imposed a deadline. Among their demands were the closure of Al Jazeera TV network, severing political ties with Iran, expelling members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and shutting down the Turkish military base in Qatar. However, Qatar did not accept these demands. On Saturday, September 4, Ali bin Fatis al-Mari, the Attorney General of Qatar, announced that five suspects had been arrested in Turkey and were being interrogated. He did not mention the nationality of the detainees or other details. The Attorney General stated, "Recently, our friends in Turkey responded to us. Five individuals are in custody, and interrogations are ongoing. Qatari prosecutors are cooperating with Turkish officials in this case." The Attorney General of Qatar said the country has evidence linking the hacking of its news agency to countries that have severed relations with Doha. Following the blockade by Saudi Arabia and its allies, Qatar, in addition to increasing Turkish forces on its territory, announced that it sought to restore its ambassador to Iran. The Qatari ambassador has been stationed at his country's embassy in Tehran since Friday. Qatar, along with several Arab countries, had recalled its ambassador after attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran. In this context, the Iranian Foreign Ministry welcomed the return of the Qatari ambassador to Tehran. The Washington Post reported that the UAE was behind the cyberattacks on the Qatar news agency, which the UAE denied. Russian officials denied the news of the hacking of the Qatar news agency. The severing of relations by several Arab countries with Qatar has led to consultations and mediation by Turkey and Kuwait. The FBI has also assisted Qatar in investigating the recent cyberattack. Tensions between Qatar and Gulf countries have increased over statements attributed to the Emir of Qatar.