Turkey will not send troops into Yemen to confront Houthi forces, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Thursday, clarifying Ankara’s military commitments under its defense agreement with Saudi Arabia as regional fighting intensifies.
Fidan’s remarks follow a joint announcement Monday that Turkey and Pakistan would prepare for the rapid deployment of troops to Saudi Arabia under the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement. Signed in August, the pact commits Turkey, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia to mutual assistance if any member comes under attack. However, the announcement did not specify whether the planned deployments would involve defensive or offensive operations.
“This is a defense agreement,” Fidan said. “This is not an offensive agreement. That is, Turkey will not send its troops to another country’s territory to launch an attack.”
The clarification comes as Saudi Arabia faces renewed Houthi missile and drone attacks while supporting a Yemeni government counteroffensive. On Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition reported intercepting a Houthi ballistic missile north of Riyadh, while the Houthis claimed attacks on airports and military facilities across the kingdom. Fighting has also intensified near Bab al-Mandab, the strategic waterway connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. A Saudi energy-sector source cited by French media said a Houthi attack Sunday had again interrupted pumping through the kingdom’s East–West oil pipeline, an increasingly important export route amid Iranian restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The renewed Yemen conflict has displaced more than 200,000 people, according to the United Nations.
Fidan’s statement distinguishes between defending Saudi territory and participating in offensive operations inside Yemen. Ankara’s position leaves room for military assistance under the pact without committing Turkish forces to direct intervention against the Houthis. That distinction could become increasingly important if attacks on Saudi infrastructure continue while Riyadh expands operations inside Yemen. The alliance’s ability to reinforce Saudi defenses without drawing additional regional powers directly into the conflict will be a significant test of its emerging security framework. (AFP+EIR)
