Turkey Rejects Claims It Asked To Attend Arab League Summit

The Foreign Ministry has denied reports that it made a request to attend the 26th annual Arab League Summit that started in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday as an observer state.

The statement on the ministry's website says, “The news, originating from the Egyptian media, claiming that Turkey requested to participate as observer in the League of Arab States Summit meeting being held on 28-29 March 2015 is groundless.”

“Turkey has not made such a request,” said Tanju Bilgiç, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement released on Saturday.

The Foreign Ministry's statement came in response to a question from journalists regarding a recent news report in Egyptian media claiming that Turkey's participation in the summit was prevented.

The Arab League met to discuss the developments in Yemen, and many countries voiced their support for the Saudi-led Operation Decisive Storm against the Iran-backed Houthi militia that is marching to the southern city of Aden after seizing the capital Sana'a last year.

The Foreign Ministry released a press statement on Thursday regarding Yemen, strongly condemning “the continuation of the unilateral actions by the Houthi movement militias who have refused to withdraw from Sana'a and government institutions." (Cihan/ Today's Zaman)