Yemen MPs in Aden Ahead of Voting in Presidential Council, Govt

Speaker Sultan al-Burkani and lawmakers arrive in Aden on Sunday. (Saba)
Speaker Sultan al-Burkani and lawmakers arrive in Aden on Sunday. (Saba)
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Yemen MPs in Aden Ahead of Voting in Presidential Council, Govt

Speaker Sultan al-Burkani and lawmakers arrive in Aden on Sunday. (Saba)
Speaker Sultan al-Burkani and lawmakers arrive in Aden on Sunday. (Saba)

Several Yemeni lawmakers, ministers and members of the Shura Council arrived in the interim capital Aden on Sunday ahead of the arrival of the new Presidential Leadership Council to the city.

The council and new government are set to be sworn in in the city, capping the transition of power from former Presindent Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.

Informed government sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that parliament Speaker Sultan al-Burkani, members of the Presidential and Shura Councils and lawmakers arrived in Aden flying in from Riyadh.

Head of the Presidential Council Rashad al-Alimi and the seven members of the body will arrive at a later time as a security precaution, they added.

In 2020, the Iran-backed Houthi militias launched a ballistic missile attack against the then newly government as it was arriving at Aden airport. Several people were killed and wounded in the assault. The prime minister was unharmed.

In his first remarks to the press since his appointment, Alimi expressed last week his confidence that national efforts and unity will succeed in translating into action the outcomes of the intra-Yemeni consultations that were held in Riyadh earlier this month.

The Council is seeking the "highest level of consensus" among Yemenis given the challenges facing their country.

The Council will rely on consensus between local forces and political and societal groupings to operate with the aim to restore the state and ease the suffering of the people.

It stressed that achieving economic stability and easing humanitarian suffering are its top priorities.

"We realize the amount of challenges ahead of us, but we are determined enough to forge ahead," said Alimi.

"We are relying on the cooperation of all sides, on the local, regional and international levels, to fulfill our national duties" he declared.



Türkiye Says It Believes Kurdish Fighters Will Be Forced Out of All Syrian Territory

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Says It Believes Kurdish Fighters Will Be Forced Out of All Syrian Territory

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)

Türkiye believes Syria's new rulers, including the Syrian National Army (SNA) armed group which Ankara backs, will drive Kurdish YPG fighters from all territory they occupy in northeastern Syria, Defense Minister Yasar Guler said on Sunday.

Türkiye regards the Syrian YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for 40 years and are deemed terrorists by Ankara, Washington, and the European Union.

The YPG spearheads an alliance, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is backed by the United States and controls territory in northeastern Syria. Since the fall of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, Türkiye and Syrian groups it backs have fought against the SDF, seizing the city of Manbij.

"We believe that the new leadership in Syria and the Syrian National Army, which is an important part of its army, along with the Syrian people, will free all territories occupied by terrorist organizations," Guler said during a visit to Turkish troops on the Syrian border with military commanders.

"We will also take every necessary measure with the same determination until all terrorist elements beyond our borders are cleared," he said in a video released by his ministry.

Ankara has demanded the Syrian Kurdish fighters disband, and has called on Washington to withdraw its support. The US military acknowledged last week it has 2,000 troops on the ground in Syria, twice as many as it had said previously.

On Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Türkiye would do "whatever it takes" to ensure its security if Syria's new administration was unable to address its concerns.