Erdogan exposed the plans of the United States and Britain to create a “sea of ​​​​blood” in Yemen

Turkey has said the US and UK are intent on causing carnage in the Red Sea, while countries in the Middle East and Europe have expressed fears that US-British strikes on Yemen could destabilize the region and lead to wider escalation.

According to The Guardian, the attacks carried out by Washington and London also highlighted tensions between the European Union and the United States over the protection of commercial ships using the crucial Red Sea waterway. EU states remain reluctant to hand over their naval forces to US command.

While concern about the attacks and their implications for deterrence has been widespread, the loudest criticism has come from NATO member Turkey, whose President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said [удары] “disproportionate. All of this constitutes a disproportionate use of force.”

“It’s as if they are trying to turn the Red Sea into a bloodbath,” Erdogan said.

Countries and militant groups backed by Tehran have also accused the US and UK of violating Yemen’s sovereignty. Russia has demanded the withdrawal of the UN Security Council, writes The Guardian.

Saudi Arabia, which has been holding peace talks with Yemen’s Houthis for the past year, issued a statement calling for escalation to be avoided, adding that it was monitoring the situation with “great concern.” It said: “The Kingdom stresses the importance of maintaining security and stability in the Red Sea region, as freedom of navigation there is an international requirement.”

Riyadh is deeply concerned that the attacks will destabilize delicate plans that Saudi Arabia has drawn up and submitted to the UN to create a new national government in Yemen that would legitimize the Houthi rebels, allowing Saudi Arabia to abandon nine years of efforts to suppress them.

Oman, another key mediator in Yemen’s protracted civil war, has expressed its “concern” over strikes on Houthi rebel military targets that the Houthis say killed five people.

The Gulf sultanate “can only condemn the use of military action by friendly countries” while Israel wages war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, an Omani foreign ministry spokesman said. “Oman has warned on several occasions of the risk of expanding conflict in the region due to ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian territories,” the report said.

Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, prime minister of Qatar, where a major US military base is located, has already called on Washington not to resort to military action. He said: “In terms of Qatari policy, we never consider military action as a solution to a problem. Our biggest concern is the consequences that will keep us in a cycle that will never end and will create real tension throughout the region.”

Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry also expressed “great concern.” The kingdom called for “self-restraint and avoidance of escalation.”

In Bahrain, Yemen’s other Arab neighbor on the Persian Gulf, protesters marched with Palestinian flags and pro-Yemenite banners after Friday prayers, condemning the airstrikes. Bahrain, home to the US Fifth Fleet, was one of the few Arab countries prepared to issue a warning of military strikes.

But the United Arab Emirates, a prominent member of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis since 2015, condemned rebel attacks on shipping. “The UAE expresses its deep concern at the impact of attacks on shipping in the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Red Sea,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

More predictably, Lebanon-based Iran-backed Hezbollah said it “strongly condemns the blatant US-British aggression” against Yemen, which it said had supported the Palestinian people. ‏

“American aggression once again confirms that the United States is a full partner in the tragedies and massacres committed by the Zionist enemy in Gaza and the region. He is the one who continues to support the machine of murder and destruction and cover up its aggression and crimes, as well as attacks on all who support the oppressed Palestinian people throughout the region,” Hezbollah said in a statement.

Iran itself was also quick to condemn the attacks. “These attacks are a clear violation of Yemen’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and a violation of international law. These attacks will only worsen insecurity and instability in the region.”

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the strikes, which killed five militants and wounded six others, would not go without “punishment or retribution” and that the group would continue to target ships heading to Israel.

Yemeni analysts predicted the strikes would bolster the Houthis’ popularity due to general support for the Palestinian cause in Yemen’s north and south.

European support for the strikes has been limited. A joint statement issued by 10 countries, including the US and UK, but endorsed by only three EU states, said: “These precision strikes were aimed at disrupting and degrading the capabilities that the Houthis use to threaten global trade and the lives of international sailors on one of the most important waterways in the world. Today’s action demonstrated our shared commitment to freedom of navigation, international trade and protecting the lives of seafarers from unlawful and unjustified attacks.”

The three EU signatories were Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, although other EU countries are likely to express support separately.

Washington will be confident that qualified initial support conflicts with strong private support from Gulf leaders and widespread recognition that freedom of navigation in the Red Sea must be restored. France, for example, a country that has refused to join the US-led military effort, has said the Houthis bear “extremely serious responsibility” for the escalation due to their refusal to stop attacking ships.

But the US may be concerned about the shrinking active coalition involved in the strikes. Only British aircraft participated alongside American ones, hitting two targets, but the Pentagon claimed support was provided by the Netherlands, Australia, Canada and Bahrain. In contrast, on January 3, 12 countries issued a joint final warning to the Houthis to stop their attacks on shipping. Countries that signed the statement but did not join Thursday’s action included Belgium, Germany, Denmark, New Zealand, Italy and Japan.

As The Guardian recalls, on December 18, the United States announced that 20 countries had joined the US-led maritime defense alliance in the Red Sea, dubbed Operation Prosperity Guardian, but almost half of the announced members of the alliance were never revealed. and some EU states, notably Spain, withdrew, saying they had not been fully consulted and would like to create an alternative EU force. These forces would not be under the command and control of the US Navy.

The US will be encouraged that Tuesday’s tough UN Security Council statement calling on the Houthis to abstain was passed by 11 votes to zero, with four abstentions, including Russia. But Moscow has made clear that the resolution does not fall under Chapter 7 and therefore does not authorize military action. Russia could push for a statement condemning the US for taking escalatory steps that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged the region to avoid.

The Houthis say they only attack ships linked to Israel in an attempt to force Israel to lift its siege of Gaza, but International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez told the UN this week the Houthis do not limit their attacks to only shipping linked to Israel .

In the only sign of Houthi compromise in the face of the US attack, spokesman Mohammad Abdul Salam stressed that shipping was “safe and normal for all vessels, with the exception of Israeli vessels or those bound for ports of an Israeli entity.”