Turkiye says it could help meet Saudi Arabia’s military needs

ANKARA: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday that Saudi Arabia may have military needs due to the ongoing attacks by Yemen’s Houthis and that Turkiye was ready to help under a trilateral defence pact that includes Pakistan. “We see there are very serious attacks on Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity, sovereignty. We have an alliance agreement in our pact. We are in serious solidarity on this point. They may have some military needs, especially on some technical issues. We would have no issues in meeting these,” Fidan told broadcaster NTV . The joint defence agreement, signed last month, stipulates that an armed attack on any one of the three countries will be regarded as an attack on all of them.

The Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen, have been launching attacks on Saudi Arabia since declaring a naval blockade against Riyadh in July. The attacks have targeted Saudi cities, energy infrastructure and shipping, threatening global oil supplies and the main alternative Red Sea route for Gulf exports while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted. President Donald Trump has rebuffed pleas from the Saudis for military support to fight the Houthis, who agreed a ceasefire with the United States last year after Washington bombed the group for two months. Fidan said that it was unacceptable for Saudi Arabia to be made a part of the US-Iran war as it had no desire to join the conflict. He added, without elaborating, that proposals have been conveyed to all sides to end the fighting. “There are many initiatives, but the sides need to accept these,” he said.…