Turkey does not expect its troops to engage in combat with the Houthis under a defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, Defence Minister Yasar Guler said on Friday, as the countries' foreign ministers met in Istanbul to discuss regional developments.
"The main purpose of our possible military support to Saudi Arabia will be to strengthen deterrence. We absolutely do not foresee entering into any conflict with the Houthis," he said. "Our priority is to prevent new tensions from emerging in the region and to contribute to security and stability."
Mr Guler said Turkey would assess requests for military support to Saudi Arabia and determine the scope of its assistance once parliament ratified the pact.
The Makkah defence agreement, signed in August and submitted to Turkey's parliament for ratification this week, is based on the principle that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all.
But Article 2 specifies that countries must assist one another in the event of an attack or military aggression by "another country or a group of countries", raising questions about whether it would apply to strikes by Yemen's Houthis, who have escalated attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent weeks.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have ratified the agreement.
The two countries' foreign ministers met in Istanbul on Friday on the sidelines of the Regional Four (R4) ministerial meeting, which involved Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt, where they discussed bilateral relations and regional developments, among them the situation in Yemen.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar condemned recent Houthi attacks on civilian areas in Saudi Arabia, according to a statement by the kingdom's Foreign Ministry.
The bilateral talks took place as Istanbul hosted a wider diplomatic gathering, the first of its kind, which also brought together foreign ministers from the UK, France, Germany and Italy.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hosted the meeting to discuss "regional issues of mutual concern", his office said.
In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the ministers said they "condemned in the strongest terms the unacceptable escalation by the Houthi militia", including continued strikes on Saudi Arabia targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, as well as attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Bab Al Mandeb strait.
They expressed solidarity with the governments of Yemen and Saudi Arabia and called on the Houthis to "immediately cease all military actions, threats and attacks, and to return to the political process in good faith".
Saudi Arabia has come under intensified Houthi attacks in recent weeks, including deadly strikes on airports that have disrupted air travel and prompted the cancellation or postponement of major international conferences, diplomatic summits and sporting events in the kingdom.
The Houthis have also claimed attacks on Saudi energy and military targets.