As focus begins to turn to developments in Libya and the foreign interference that plagues the Arab country, it seems that Turkey already has its eye elsewhere, preparing for military involvement in Yemen in a move that has sparked concern among Yemenis.
Informed sources in Aden and Taiz revealed to MintPress that a militia belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated El-Eslah Party, the ideological and political ally of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, is already engaged in the latest round of fighting in Yemen’s southern provinces, particularly in Abyan and Shabwa.
The Turkish intervention, which extends to Marib – an oil-rich province located 173 kilometers to the northeast of Houthi-controlled Sana’a, has so far been led by officers, experts, and training personnel, and has involved the delivery of weapons, including drones, for use by Turkish allies on the ground. The move paves the way for wider intervention in Yemen that would resemble Turkey’s role in Libya in favor of The Government of National Accord, which is currently battling General Khalifa Haftar’s forces for control over the country.
The Turkish officers and advisors in Yemen are lending comprehensive support to El-Eslah’s militants who have been fighting against the Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Abyan since April 26, when the STC imposed emergency rule in Aden and all southern governorates.
Beginning in 2018 and ‘19, dozens of Turkish officers and experts reportedly arrived in many Yemeni areas overlooking the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, particularly in Shabwa, Abyan, Socotra, al-Mahra and coastal Directorate of Mukha near the Bab al-Mandab Strait as well as to Marib. The officers reportedly entered Yemen as aid workers under pseudonyms using Yemeni passports issued illegally from the Yemeni passport headquarters in the governorates of Ma’rib, Taiz, and Al-Mahrah.
Recently, Ankara trained hundreds of Yemeni fighters in Turkey and in makeshift camps inside of Yemen. Moreover, Turkey recruited Libyan and Syrian mercenaries to fight in Yemen bty promising them high salaries to fight for the Muslim Brotherhood in the southern regions and along the western coast of Yemen, according to sources that spoke to MintPress.
One of those sources said that a group of mercenaries was supposed to enter the country last week in a Turkish plane carrying “aid and medicine related to coronavirus pandemic” but the Saudi-led coalition prevented the plane from landing at Aden’s airport. Now, sources say, Turkish intelligence and its allies in Yemen are working on a strategy to enter the country by pushing for eased travel restrictions under the guise of fighting coronavirus.
Yemeni politicians told MintPress that Turkey wants to reach the strategic port of Balhaf and secure for use as a hub to export gas and oil and to control the open coasts of the Arabian Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait for later use as a gateway for Turkish intervention in the region. Turkish control in those areas would provide access to support and supply Turkish military bases in Somalia and Qatar.
This information provided to MintPress was confirmed by the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Libyan Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Masmari, who is recruiting Syrian and Lybian mercenaries with attractive salaries to fight with the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen. At this point, both the Saudi-led Coalition and Turkey have exploited the Yemeni poor, recruiting them to fight in both Libya and Syria.
In Taiz, Turkey has opened training camps, the most important of which is located on the outskirts of the al-Hajariya Mountains near the Bab al-Mandab Strait and is run by Hamoud al-Mikhlafi who resides in Turkey and regularly visits Qatar. Al-Mikhlafi also established the “Hamad Camp” in the Jabal Habashi District. Shabwah, and Marib have also received Turkish support.
Ankara has successfully boosted its intelligence presence in Yemen through the use of Turkish humanitarian aid organizations. There are many Turkish “humanitarian relief organizations” operating in three coastal Yemeni regions: Shabwa, Socotra, and the al-Mukha region in Taiz governorate. Among those organizations is the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Agency (IHH) which operates in the governorate of Aden, the Turkish Red Crescent, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), the Turkiye Diyanet Foundation (Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı) among dozens of other Turkish organizations.
Turkey has been supporting Yemen’s El-Eslah Party, founded in 1990, since before the Saudi-led Coalition launched its offensive in Yemen in 2015. Similar to its support for the Government of Accord in Libya, El-Eslah has gained additional momentum in recent years given the power and money it has received from both Turkey and members of the Saudi-led coalition.
