Türkiye condemns Houthi drone attack targeting Mecca

Türkiye on Wednesday strongly condemned a Houthi drone attack targeting the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, reaffirming support for the kingdom's security.

"We strongly condemn the Houthis' drone attack targeting the holy city of Mecca," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Türkiye, the ministry said, reaffirms its "support for Saudi Arabia's sovereignty, territorial integrity and security," and stressed its "solidarity with Saudi Arabia."

"We reiterate our call for these attacks, which also threaten regional stability and security, to end immediately and for all actions aimed at further escalating tensions to be avoided," the statement said.

Yemen has been gripped by war since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led Arab coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government.

The rebel group has been engaged in renewed fighting with government forces since July, when it declared a maritime blockade on Riyadh, and has recently claimed advances along the Red Sea coast and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The Houthis have also targeted the oil infrastructure of Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi-led coalition said early Wednesday that Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed a drone launched by Yemen's Houthi group south of Mecca before it entered the holy city's restricted airspace.

MECCA'S PEACE AND SECURITY IS A SHARED PRIORITY

Turkish Communications Director Burhanettin Duran also condemned the attack in a post shared on the US social media company X, saying: "I strongly condemn the despicable attempted drone attack targeting the sanctity and security of Mecca."

Duran said any attack targeting Islam's holy sites wounds the collective conscience of the Muslim world, and stressed that protecting Mecca's peace and security is a shared priority.

Echoing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's calls for dialogue and lasting peace, he said the Islamic world needed common sense and diplomacy rather than new conflicts.

He also reaffirmed Türkiye's support for Saudi Arabia.