But actually getting involved is another matter. The Turks think the Saudis are in a pickle -- Yemen is a dreadfully difficult place to win a war and an air assault without ground troops has zero chance of success.
When the Iranians reacted sharply to Erdogan's comments, the President backpeddled. Iran is a major trading partner for the Turks, and, with the possibility that international sanctions against Teheran will soon end, Turkey wants in on the gold rush that is certain to follow. During Erdogan's recent trip to Teheran, the Turkish President and Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif issued a joint statement calling for an end to the war in Yemen, and a "political solution." It was a far cry from Erdogan's initial belligerence.
The Arab League supports the war, but only to varying degrees. Iraq opposes the Saudi attacks, and Algeria is keeping its distance by calling for an end to "all foreign intervention." Even the normally compliant GCC, representing the oil monarchs of the Gulf, has a defector. Oman abuts Yemen, and its ruler, Sultan Qaboos, is worried the chaos will spread across its border. And while the United Arab Emirates have flown missions over Yemen, the UAE is also preparing to cash in if sanctions are removed from Teheran. "Iran is on our doorstep, we have to be there," Marwan Shehadeh, a developer in Dubai told the Financial Times. "It could be a great game changer."
The most conspicuous absence in the Saudi coalition, however, is Pakistan, a country that has received billions in aid from Saudi Arabia and whose current Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, was sheltered by Riyadh from the wrath of Pakistan's military in 1999.
When the Saudi's initially announced their intention to attack Yemen, they included Pakistan in the reported coalition, an act of hubris that backfired badly. Pakistan's Parliament demanded a debate on the issue and then voted unanimously to remain neutral. While Islamabad declared its intention to "defend Saudi Arabia's sovereignty," no one thinks the Houthis are about to march on Jiddah.
The Yemen war is deeply unpopular in Pakistan, and the Parliament's actions were widely supported, one editorial writer calling for rejecting "GCC diktat." Only the extremist Lashkar-e-Taiba organization, which planned the 2008 Mumbai massacre in India, supported the Saudis.
Pakistan has indeed relied on Saudi largesse and, in turn, provided security for Riyadh, but the relationship is wearing thin.
First, there is widespread outrage for the Saudi support of extremist Islamic groups, some of which are at war with Pakistan's government. Last year one such organization, the Tehrik-i-Taliban, massacred 145 people, including 132 students, in Peshawar. Fighting these groups in North Waziristan has taxed the Pakistani Army, which must also pay attention to its southern neighbor, India.
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