Update - Gulf Summit Opens İn Riyadh

A summit of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders kicked off Tuesday in Saudi capital Riyadh ahead of a Gulf-U.S. summit to be held at Camp David later this month.



French President Francois Hollande attended Tuesday's summit as guest speaker – the first time for a European leader to take part in a Gulf summit since the GCC was established in 1981.



Addressing the summit, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz said he was looking forward to seeing Yemen's various factions return to the negotiating table.



"We hope that 'Operation Restoring Hope' will push Yemeni parties to return to dialogue," Salman said.



He called on "those parties keen to maintain security and stability in Yemen" to participate in a planned conference in Riyadh this month.



On Monday, Yemen's embattled President ABD Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who is currently in Riyadh, set May 17 for a "national dialogue" conference between Yemen's political groups.



Fractious Yemen has remained in turmoil since last September, when the Houthis overran capital Sanaa, from which they have since sought to extend their influence southwards to other parts of the country.



On March 25, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies began an extensive military campaign against Houthi positions across Yemen.



Riyadh says its campaign comes in response to Hadi's appeals for military intervention against the Houthis.



Tuesday's Gulf summit is expected to discuss the crisis in Yemen, along with Iran's ongoing talks with world powers over its nuclear program.



Leaders are also expected to discuss the Syrian civil war and means of confronting the Daesh militant group, which last year overran vast territories in Syria and Iraq.



Developments in Palestine are also expected to be on the agenda of Tuesday's summit.



The summit comes ahead of a scheduled May 14 meeting between Gulf leaders and U.S. President Barack Obama at Camp David, in the U.S.



Last month, Iran and the P5+1 group of nations (the U.S., China, France, Russia, the U.K. and Germany) unveiled a preliminary framework for talks aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear ambitions.



Parties to the talks have set themselves a June 30 deadline for reaching a deal.



Iran's nuclear program has caused particular concern in the Arab Gulf, where Sunni-majority states fear the prospect of Shiite Iran obtaining nuclear weapons.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Riyad