Türkiye Backs Saudi Arabia As Houthi Attacks Escalate.
Türkiye has said it is prepared to help meet Saudi Arabia’s military needs as attacks by Yemen’s Houthi movement intensify, adding another layer to the growing regional security crisis.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday that Saudi Arabia may have military requirements resulting from the escalating attacks and that Türkiye would consider how to support the kingdom under the recently established Mecca Joint Defence Agreement.
Fidan said it was unacceptable for Saudi Arabia to be drawn into the wider US-Iran war, adding that Riyadh did not want to become a direct participant in that conflict. He also said proposals had been communicated to the parties involved in an effort to bring the fighting to an end.
The comments came after a series of Houthi attacks on Saudi territory. On Saturday, a Saudi-led coalition said its air defences intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards Riyadh. Saudi authorities also reported that other attempted attacks targeting civilian areas and infrastructure had been thwarted.
The Houthis, meanwhile, said they had targeted what they described as sensitive sites in Riyadh and an Aramco facility in Yanbu, using missiles and drones. The claims by the two sides could not all be independently verified.
The escalation has already caused casualties. Al Jazeera, citing Reuters and other reports, said at least five people had been killed in recent fighting between Saudi forces and the Houthis, including three children, while a person was killed in Saudi Arabia after a Houthi drone was intercepted in the Taif area.
Türkiye has repeatedly condemned Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. In an official statement on September 8, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the attacks threatened civilians and regional stability and reaffirmed its support for Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement was signed on August 7 by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The agreement states that an armed attack against one member is to be treated as an attack against all three. Officials subsequently established the framework of the alliance, although questions remain about how its mutual-defence provisions would operate in practice.
Pakistan has also publicly pledged to defend Saudi Arabia, although its officials have said that no military response under the agreement is currently being discussed. The growing involvement of Türkiye and Pakistan comes as the conflict threatens to affect wider regional security, energy infrastructure and shipping routes around the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
For now, Türkiye’s position is that it will support Saudi Arabia’s security needs while continuing to call for an end to the escalation. The latest developments leave the regional defence pact facing its first major test as fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis continues.
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