Qatar denies tweet linking Gulf states to Turkish coup

Qatar's ministry of defence has denied reports that Defence Minister Khaled al-Attiyah accused Saudi Arabia and the UAE of supporting Turkey's failed 15 July coup.

The defence minister was said to have accused the Gulf states of aiding the plotters in a tweet from his official Twitter account.

A statement released by the state-owned Qatar News Agency repudiated the "fabricated tweet against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE".

It called upon media outlets to "elicit information from their official sources".

Several outlets, including by the Jordan-based al-Bawaba website and al-Masdar News, shared the initial report of the minister's alleged offending tweet.

The message from Attiyeh's account also claimed that he had obtained a document showing that the coup was initially planned to be staged in August. Pictures of the tweet were also circulated online.

"This document reveals that a Saudi emir and a top Emirati military official have been aware, in advance, of an imminent plot to topple the Turkish President through their participation in the Anatolian Eagle maneuvers held last May. However, they refrained from informing the Turkish authorities," the tweet read.

The image of the tweet that was circulated online [Screenshot]

After the coup attempt on 15 July, Qatar strongly condemned the attempt by a Turkish army faction to seize control from one of its closest allies.

Doha slammed the failed putsch as "lawless" and a "violation of the constitutional legitimacy".

While Qatar remains close to the Turkish government, Saudi Arabia has fallen out with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on a number of matters.

This reportedly includes the Kurdish issue, the status of Iraq's disputed city of Mosul and the Muslim Brotherhood movement. 

It is also thought that the recent detente between Ankara and Moscow has raised alarms in Riyadh.

Meanwhile, the UAE has somewhat warmed towards Erdogan following the failed coup by cooperating with Turkey in its crackdown against suspected putschists.

On Tuesday, two senior Turkish generals serving in the NATO force in Afghanistan were detained at Dubai airport on suspicion of links to the attempt to overthrow Erdogan, an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

According to Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency, the detentions followed cooperation between Turkish intelligence and UAE authorities.