Turkey and Egypt in the Yemen crisis

Abstract

Turkey and Egypt both supported the Saudi-led military operation in Yemen in 2015. While both countries saw developments in Yemen as part of the Saudi-Iranian regional rivalry, the extent of their involvement and the reasons for their support of Operation Decisive Storm differed greatly. The 2013 ousting of the Morsi government in Cairo was a key turning point that affected their stances in regional politics. For Turkey, the removal of the Muslim Brotherhood regime was difficult to accept, but for Egypt, it was the beginning of the al-Sisi regime and the empowered alliances with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Turkey’s decision to support the 2015 Saudi-led operation in Yemen was a result of its interpretation of regional politics but was overshadowed by the main priority of dealing with the Syrian crisis. For Egypt, its relations with Saudi Arabia and the UAE after 2013, as well as its security concerns over the Bab al-Mandab and the Red Sea, played an important role.