ANKARA, Jan 5 (NNN-TRT) – Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said yesterday that, his country is ready to facilitate a dialogue between Yemen’s factions.
During a phone call with Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, Erdogan expressed Türkiye’s readiness to contribute to efforts, to bring together the parties that are at odds in Yemen, his office said in a statement.
Türkiye is “closely” following the developments in Yemen, Erdogan said, while stressing the importance of protecting the country’s territorial integrity, according to the statement.
Yemen has witnessed an escalation of tensions within the Saudi-backed anti-Houthi alliance since Dec, last year, following the Southern Transitional Council’s seizure of the oil-rich Hadramout governorate, and the eastern governorate of Al-Mahrah. Together, the two governorates comprise nearly half of Yemen’s landmass and share strategic borders with Saudi Arabia and Oman.
Riyadh regards these areas as a critical “red line,” due to their proximity to its southern border and their concentration of Yemen’s energy resources. In response, Saudi Arabia threw its support behind the internationally recognised Yemeni government, launching a large-scale military operation, marked by intensified air and ground strikes.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since 2014, when Houthi forces captured Sanaa and large swathes of the north, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015.
Formed in 2017, the Southern Transitional Council seeks self-determination and eventual independence for southern Yemen. Despite joining the Saudi-led coalition and integrating into Yemen’s ruling Presidential Leadership Council in 2022, the group continues to push for southern sovereignty, leading to recurring disputes over power-sharing and control of resources.– NNN-TRT