Turkey says supports Saudi military intervention in Yemen
Turkey has been informed in advance by Saudi Arabia about its military operation against Houthi forces in Yemen and it supports the intervention, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
Turkey calls on the Houthi movement
and its foreign supporters to stop their acts that threaten regional stability and peace, said the statement.
Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies have launched military operations including air strikes against Houthi forces fighting Yemen's Western-backed president.
Iran, Saudi Arabia's regional rival which backs the Houthis, denounced the assault and made clear the kingdom's deployment of a Sunni coalition against Shiite enemies would complicate efforts to end a conflict likely to inflame the sectarian animosities fueling wars around the Middle East.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Ankara strongly condemned an assault by the Houthi rebels to seize Aden, where the US-backed Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi had taken refuge.
It said Houthi seizure of Yemen's capital city of Sanaa and besiege of Aden derailed Yemen's political transition process that was initiated as part of a Gulf Cooperation Council initiative in 2011 and that political progress achieved as a result of the process has been reversed.
Fighting has spread across Yemen since last September, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and began to fan out across the country, forcing Hadi out of the capital.
"We believe that this operation will help prevent the risk of civil war and chaos and restoration of legitimate state authority in the country," the Foreign Ministry statement said.
The Saudi operation, dubbed "Storm of Resolve," is backed by a large group of countries, including United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, which contribute warplanes. Egypt, Jordan, Sudan and Pakistan are ready to take part in a ground offensive in Yemen, according to Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV.
The United States and Britain have also announced backing for the operation. President Barack Obama had authorized US "logistical and intelligence support" but US forces are not involved in direct military action, according to the White House and the National Security Council.
Turkey says supports Saudi military intervention in Yemen