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Turkey on Friday welcomed the agreements between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels reached in UN-backed peace talks in the Swedish capital, Stockholm.
Turkey’s foreign ministry praised steps to improve the situation in Yemen’s southwestern Taiz province and the key port city of Al-Hudaydah in which the sides agreed on a cease-fire, as well as plans for a prisoner swap concerning thousands of persons and families.
"We also place importance on assurances that talks on a framework for negotiations for a political solution will continue," it said in a statement.
Yemen's Houthis have agreed in principle on a United Nation's role in Sanaa airport, a spokesman for the armed movement said in Sweden on Thursday.The Houthis are happy with what was achieved in the consultations, said the spokesman, speaking after U.N. sponsored peace talks with Yemen's internationally recognised government.A U.N. role would include carrying out safety and inspection checks at the airport. UN chief says Yemen's fighting forces to withdraw from HodeidahSaudi ambassador to Yemen says UN agreement requires Houthi withdrawal from Hodeidah
Yemen's Houthis agree in principle to UN role at Sanaa airport
The statement also underlined that Ankara’s main expectation is for the crisis in the war-stricken country and the suffering of Turkey’s "Yemeni brothers and sisters" to come to an end, who are three out of four in need of aid.
"As the term chair of the OIC [Organization of Islamic Cooperation], Turkey will continue to support UN efforts towards lasting peace and stability in Yemen in solidarity with the Yemeni people," it added.
UN-backed peace talks between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels kicked off last week in Sweden.
Yemen has been wracked by violence since 2014, when the Houthi rebels overran much of the country and the crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.
Saudi Arabia and Sunni allies accuse the Houthis of acting as a proxy force for Shia Iran.
Tens of thousands of people, including civilians, are believed to have been killed and the UN estimates that around 14 million Yemenis are at risk of famine.
The Senate voted Thursday to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen in a rebuke to Saudi Arabia, a long-time U.S. ally.The resolution was passed in the chamber 56-41.The bill was co-sponsored by Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah, gaining renewed momentum following Saudi Arabia's murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.U.S. President Donald Trump and his top officials have denied Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman role in Khashoggi's killing, despite bipartisan demands on Capitol Hill he be held responsible.The co-sponsors had been working on the resolution for the past year, with only 44 senators voting in favor of the bill in March. In November, 60 lawmakers voted to advance the debate of the bill in the Senate.The resolution faced stiff opposition from top Republicans including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said it went too far and advised lawmakers to not "pick a fight" with the executive branch, however, ending up passing with a simple majority.Yemen's Houthis agree in principle to UN role at Sanaa airportSenators also passed an amendment to the resolution prohibiting the refueling of non-U.S. aircrafts in the Yemen war.The Saudi-led campaign in Yemen has devastated the country's infrastructure, including its health and sanitation systems, prompting the UN to describe it as one of the worst humanitarian disasters of modern times."The U.S. will no longer participate in the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen which has caused the worst humanitarian crisis on Earth," Sanders said on the Senate floor Thursday. "Today we tell the despotic regime in Saudi Arabia that we will not be part of their military adventurism."The bill needs to pass the Senate and the House of Representatives to make its way to the President Donald Trump's desk where it is unlikely to be signed into law.The Trump administration has sought to maintain support for the war, arguing it serves as a means to curb Iranian influence in the region."It would encourage the Houthis. It would encourage the Iranians. It would undermine the fragile agreement for everyone to go to Sweden and have this discussion," Pompeo said to reporters last month after briefing the Senate.While serving as a victory for many in the Senate, the bill is unlikely to be taken up in the House due to a provision passed in the chamber on Wednesday.The vote came after the UN Secretary General announced warring sides in the war agreed to a cease-fire and withdrawal from the port city of Al-Hudaydah during UN-brokered peace talks in Sweden.UN chief says Yemen's fighting forces to withdraw from HodeidahUS Senate condemns crown prince for Khashoggi killing
US Senate passes bill ending support for Yemen war