ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s foreign minister will tell his Yemeni counterpart on Saturday that Houthi attacks on civilians are “unacceptable” and express hope the conflict can be resolved through dialogue, a Turkish foreign ministry source said.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is due to meet Yemen’s Afrah Al-Zouba in Istanbul, a day after hosting talks with senior European and regional diplomats.
The Houthis have been at war since 2014 with Yemen’s internationally recognized government.
Following an uneasy four-year truce, fighting reignited in July, months into the US-Iran conflict that has plunged the wider region into crisis.
The conflict in Yemen has killed hundreds of thousands of people in one of the world’s poorest countries, which was already suffering a vast humanitarian crisis.
During his talks with Al-Zouba, who represents the internationally recognized government in Yemen, Fidan will voice hope that the conflict in the country can be resolved through political dialogue and stress that “the Houthis’ attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are unacceptable,” the source said.
According to the source, Fidan will also tell Al-Zouba that security and freedom of navigation in the crucial Hormuz and Bab Al-Mandab straits must be restored “as soon as possible.”
Saudi Arabia has come under sustained attack from the Iran-backed Houthis this month, including strikes on Riyadh’s international airport that killed 13 people, the kingdom’s deadliest attack in years.
Turkiye, which recently joined a defense pact with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, has expressed solidarity with the kingdom.
On Friday, ministers from Britain, France, Germany and Italy met in Istanbul with counterparts from Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt to discuss security in Hormuz and the Bab Al-Mandab, as well as Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.