Erdogan in Ljubljana-press conference on ISIS and Yemen

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the Turkish authorities have a list of about 12,500 suspected militants who are not allowed to enter the country. They have also captured and deported about 1,250 people on suspicion of their intention to join ISIS.

The Slovenian President Borut Pahor welcomed his Turkish counterpart earlier on Sunday in an official reception ceremony in Ljubljana, in which Erdogan later expressed his remarks during a joint press conference between the two leaders. He stressed the need for providing Turkey with the names of people who are suspected of joining ISIS in order to move against them or they would resort to ‘stop[ping] every tourist who visits our country and deport them, which would be a violation of human rights’.

When asked about the Operation Decisive Storm against the Houthis in Yemen, Erdogan stated, ‘we said previously that we can offer all forms of logistical and intelligence support to the operation.’

For the fifth day in a row, the Saudi-led air forces of Operation Decisive Storm are waging raids on military sites controlled by Houthis – mostly in Sanaa – in response to an invitation by Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi who asked Arab countries to intervene militarily to protect the Yemeni people from Houthi militias. Five Arab Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and the UAE) are taking part in the military operation along with Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, and Jordan.