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Turkish president calls on Iran to withdraw from Yemen, Syria, Iraq

Xinhua, March 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said here on Thursday that Turkey supports the Saudi-led military operation in Yemen, with a warning to Iran to give up efforts to dominate the region.

"In fact, Iran is in an effort to dominate the region. How come one can allow this?" Erdogan said at a joint press conference with the visiting President of Ivory Coast Alassane Vattar.

"Iran has to change this vision. It should withdraw forces from Yemen, Syria and Iraq. It should respect territorial integrity of these countries," Erdogan said, adding that the acts of Iran have started to disturb many countries in the region, including Turkey.

"It's not possible to tolerate," the president noted.

Erdogan stressed that Turkey does not want sectarian clashes in the region, and said Iran injects Shiite militias into Iraq amid fighting against the Islamic State (IS) militants.

Turkey is ready to provide "logistic and intelligence support" to the Saudi-led coalition operation to rout Shiite rebels in Yemen, the president added.

The Turkish foreign ministry said on Thursday in a statement that it supports Saudi Arabia's military operation in Yemen.

"We support Saudi Arabia's military operation against the Houthis. We believe this operation will contribute to the prevention of civil war and the strengthening of legitimate state authority in the country," said the statement.

"We strongly condemn the Houthi movement's unilateral actions by rejecting all agreements in Yemen," said the ministry, noting that Saudi Arabia officials have informed Ankara about the operation beforehand.

On late Wednesday, Turkey issued a strict travel warning to Yemen for Turkish citizens.

Saudi Arabia and fellow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states launched airstrikes on Houthi positions early Thursday in Yemen, a move condemned by Iran but supported by the United States, Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco. Endit