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United States President Donald Trump said on October 13 he may ask Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to help address Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, despite Ankara’s stated refusal to participate in offensive military operations against the Yemeni group.
“I might do it,” Trump told reporters before leaving for a campaign trip to Alaska. “President Erdogan, I think, would do as I ask.”
Trump did not specify what role he envisioned for Turkey or say whether Washington had formally approached Ankara on the matter.
His remarks came as Saudi Arabia faced a renewed wave of Houthi missile and drone attacks, including a strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, and another that hit Aramco headquarters in Dhahran.
Turkey is a signatory to the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, established in August with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The agreement treats an armed attack on one member as an attack on all, but Ankara has drawn a distinction between defending its partners and joining their offensive campaigns.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan explicitly ruled out the latter on October 8, stressing that Ankara will aid in defense only.
“But this is a defensive agreement. When a country party to the pact comes under attack, you stand by it in its defense. This is not an offensive agreement. Turkey will not send troops to another country to carry out attacks on its territory,” he said at a news conference in Ankara, according to Reuters.
Turkey has opted to provide Saudi Arabia with limited defensive and technical assistance. Reuters reported October 7, citing officials, that the support included military equipment, intelligence sharing, air defense capabilities, logistical assistance and help with surveillance and defensive planning.
Trump’s potential request is unlikely to override these established limits. The Mecca agreement had yet to receive Turkish parliamentary ratification as of October15, after Erdogan said three days earlier that it would be submitted to lawmakers soon.
Article 92 of Turkey’s constitution generally places the authority to approve the deployment of Turkish armed forces abroad with the Grand National Assembly, subject to exceptions under applicable international treaties. A direct combat role would therefore face a significant legal and political hurdle.
Even if Ankara eventually approved an intervention, there is little reason to assume Turkish forces could achieve a decisive outcome where Saudi Arabia and its other allies have failed.
The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to support the internationally recognized government and reverse the Houthi takeover of Sanaa. More than 11 years later, the Houthis still control the capital and extensive territory in northern Yemen, despite years of military operations by Saudi Arabia and its allies.
A Turkish offensive would introduce another capable military into the conflict, but it would not resolve the underlying challenge of defeating an entrenched opponent that has withstood more than a decade of regional military pressure, including intense bombing campaigns
by the U.S. and Israel.
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