Turkey ‘concerned’ by UAE's military build-up on Yemen’s Socotra

Turkey has voiced concern over the recent developments in Yemen’s Socotra after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) deployed forces to the island, saying they pose a threat to the country’s sovereignty.

According to Press TV, earlier this month, the UAE deployed some 300 soldiers, along with tanks and artillery, to Socotra amid widening divisions with the Riyadh-sponsored forces loyal to the former Yemeni President, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

"We are closely following the recent developments in Yemen's Socotra Island," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday, without explicitly referring to the UAE.

"We are concerned about these developments that pose a new threat to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Yemen," the ministry added.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are key members of a coalition that has been waging a deadly war on Yemen since March 2015 in support of Hadi and against the Ansarullah Movement.

The war has martyred and injured over 600,000 civilians, according to the Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights. The Saudi-led aggression triggered what the United Nations has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

"We think that Yemen... cannot afford new problems and disputes," said the Turkish ministry.

It also urged "all relevant actors" to "avoid steps that would further complicate the solution" of the crisis.

The UAE deployment came amid widening divisions between forces loyal to the UAE and those supporting the former Yemeni president. Both camps are based in southern Yemen and mostly in Aden as the capital Sana’a still remains under the control of the Ansarullah Movement.

ME