The Turkish government has relied significantly on Islamist proxies and mercenaries, and there are indications of the pattern repeating in war-torn Yemen.
If Turkey gains a foothold in Yemen, it will have bases either side of the Gulf of Aden, since it already has a presence in Somalia, and will be positioned to threaten the crucial Bab al-Mandeb waterway with a pincer using its port holdings in Djibouti.
Turkey is present in Yemen through the paw of the Islah Party, the Yemeni branch of the Brotherhood. In recent years, Istanbul has become the favoured destination of most leaders of the Yemeni Islah party. Leaders of Islah as well as Islamist media figures had moved to Turkey.
It became clear that Ankara was establishing tighter relations with the Reform (Al-Islah) Party in Yemen, the local manifestation of the Muslim Brotherhood. Islah “is instrumental in giving Turkish institutions and the Turkish government, all masquerading as charity organizations, access to Yemeni cities.
Sources reported on the covert agreement between the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen and the Houthis under the auspices of Turkey to share areas of influence in Yemen, with the insurgent rebels controlling the north of Yemen, in return for supporting the Brotherhood’s ambitions to acquire the southern regions.
Activists linked to the Yemeni Muslim Brotherhood renewed their media attacks against the Saudi-led alliance, and called for alternative solutions such as the creation of a new coalition in Yemen led by Ankara; and the establishment of an alternative military council.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey seems to be focusing on Yemen after having extended its influence over the Mediterranean arch by entering the civil wars in Syria and Libya, where it has displaced part of its important army and where it has set up militias made up of paid mercenaries who in many cases come from former branches of jihadist groups.
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