A member of the Political Council of Anssarallah movement in Yemen, Abdul Wahab Al-Mahbashi has warned Turkey against any intervention in the country.
Should it do so, Al-Mahbashi said, it will fare no better than Saudi Arabia, which has been leading a US-supported war in the country since 2015.
Al-Mahbashi was quoted by Iran’s IRNA earlier today as saying, “If Turkish soldiers enter Yemen, they will have a fate worse than that of the aggressors who preceded them.”
He pointed out that, “With all the oil [money] in their possession, the United States and the Persian Gulf Arabs’ media outlets and mercenaries were defeated in Yemen and forced to retreat and find a way out of the self-made quagmire.” If Turkey enters the battlefield in Yemen, the Houthi official added, “it is a sign that the country is not governed by wisdom and prudence, and that Turkish officials are suffering from irrationality and short-sightedness.”
His comments come amid reports that Turkish military vehicles and equipment have been transferred to ports in Somalia prior to being shipped to the Yemeni port of Qena. It is believed that they are intended for the Saudi-backed Islah forces fighting on behalf of the, internationally-recognized Yemeni government based in Riyadh.
Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar reported last week that Turkey’s alleged role in Yemen has escalated after the improvement in relations between Ankara and Riyadh.
Syrian mercenaries are said to have been mobilised to fight in Yemen “in defence” of the city of Marib, which is the last stronghold of Saudi-backed forces in the north of the country. The latter are fighting against the Yemeni armed forces which are allied to the Houthis.
Despite his warning, Al-Mahbashi said that he did not believe that Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would commit Turkish soldiers in Yemen, but will instead use mercenaries, similar to his interventions in Libya and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. “Invading Yemen will not have a happy ending for Erdogan himself as well as the country’s government and military,” he insisted.
Early this week, Maj. Gen. Khaled al-Qamli, commander of the Mansour Hadi Coast Guard, arrived in Somalia to receive a shipment of Turkish weapons that arrived in Somali ports.
During the visit, al-Qamli met with the commander of the Somali Coast Guard and stressed the need for continued cooperation and coordination between Somalia and the Hadi (resigned) government. Prior to the meeting, he had met with Alan Cole, Head, Global Maritime Crime Programme, to obtain his favorable opinion on the transfer of the consignment.
Turkish weapons have reached a Turkish military base off the coast of the Somali capital Mogadishu on a cargo ship carrying about 200 armored vehicles and various weapons.
Turkish weapons are expected to be transferred to the shores of Ahwar district in southern Yemen in the coming days.
This is the first shipment of Turkish weapons to Yemen in the war period, which is sent to the country in the silence of the international community. Earlier, some media outlets had claimed that Bayraktar drones and Turkish military forces had been sent to Saudi Arabia and that they had taken part in the Marib battles, which were undocumented and unreliable.
