Alwaght- Qatar has said it will not meet any of the 13 demands made by Saudi Arabia and its allies, offering instead "a proper condition for a dialogue" to resolve the Persian Gulf crisis.
Qatar Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, speaking at the news conference in the Italian capital Rome on Saturday, said the list "was meant to be rejected", pointing to the fact that it arrived with a 10-day expiration date.
"Everyone is aware that these demands are meant to infringe the sovereignty of the state of Qatar, shut the freedom of speech and impose auditing and probation mechanism for Qatar," he said.
"We believe that the world is not governed by ultimatums, we believe that the world is governed by the international law, it is governed by an order that does not allow large countries to bully small countries."
Sheikh Mohammed spoke less than 48 hours before the deadline for the demands issued last week was due to pass.
It was not clear what would come next. Sheikh Mohammed said Qatar did not fear any military retaliation for rejecting the ultimatum.
The list of demands include downgrading ties with Iran, shutting down Al Jazeera media network and Turkish military base in Doha.
The ultimatum came more than two weeks after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar on June 5 and imposed sanctions, accusing it of supporting "terrorism".
Meanwhile, Turkey on Saturday said it remained hopeful of a solution to the Persian Gulf crisis after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks with the country's defence minister.
In Ankara's latest show of support for Qatar, Erdogan hosted Defense Minister Khaled bin Mohammed al-Attiyah for talks at the headquarters of the ruling party in Ankara.
The meeting came as Ankara, which has stood by Doha throughout the crisis, resists pressure to shutter a Turkish military base on Qatar that Saudi-led Arab states want to see closed.
A Turkish presidential spokesman has expressed hope about the likelihood of finding a solution to the ongoing crisis between Qatar and several Arab countries.
"There are some indications that a solution is possible. This is our general impression. We need to continue efforts to take measures that go in the right direction," Ibrahim Kalin said.
