Yemeni vice president praises Turkish support for Yemen

By Mohammed al-Shabiri

SANAA, Yemen

Yemen’s vice president on Tuesday praised Turkey’s attitude supporting the nation’s government and its efforts to end the turmoil there.

"Our relations with Turkey are historic and greatly appreciated by Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi," Lt. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, the vice president, said during a meeting with Turkish Ambassador to Yemen Levent Eler in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

"We praise Turkey's attitude supporting the efforts of the Saudi-led coalition which backs the legitimacy in our country," Yemen’s SABA news agency quoted him as saying.

He added, "We express our thanks to the Turkish people, who stood against conspiracies that targeted legitimacy in both our countries, Turkey and Yemen."

Al-Ahmar confirmed his “government's willingness to restore peace to Yemen, a peace based on terms of the Gulf initiative and the outcomes of the National Dialogue, and UN Security Council Resolution 2216."

Resolution 2216 – drafted by members of a Saudi-led anti-Houthi coalition and submitted by Jordan – was endorsed by the UNSC in April 2015.

The resolution calls on the Houthis and allied forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh to withdraw from all areas they have recently captured; surrender all weapons seized from state institutions; recognize President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi; and release all political prisoners they are currently holding.

For his part, Turkish Ambassador Eler stressed that his country would “continue its supportive role for constitutional legitimacy in Yemen, as we encourage all UN efforts to end the conflict and to stop the bloodshed in the country.”

Yemen has been wracked by chaos since late 2014, when the Houthis and their allies overran the capital Sanaa and other parts of the country, forcing members of Yemen’s Saudi-backed government to temporarily flee to Riyadh.

The conflict escalated in March of last year when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Muslim allies launched a massive military campaign aimed at reversing Houthi gains in Yemen and restoring the country’s embattled government.