Turkey condemns attack on UN envoy in Yemen

ANKARA

Turkey on Tuesday condemned an alleged Houthi attack on the convoy of UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, on Monday.

The envoy’s convoy reportedly came under fire as he left the Sanaa airport for talks to resolve the conflict in the war-torn country.

“We condemn the attack on the convoy of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, on May 22, 2017 in Sanaa, the capital of the Republic of Yemen,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“In this vein, we reiterate our support to the efforts for a political solution to the crisis in Yemen,” the statement added.

The Yemeni government has termed the attack on the UN envoy as an “assassination attempt”.

According to UN officials, more than 10,000 Yemenis have been killed in the conflict to date, while more than 11 percent of the country’s total population have been displaced as a direct result of the fighting.

*Reporting by Sultan Cogalan; Writing by Handan Kazanci