Turkish FM defends new Mecca Alliance amid criticism over Yemen crisis

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan defended the newly formed Mecca Alliance against critics who cite the ongoing Yemen crisis as evidence of its ineffectiveness. "Nobody criticizes NATO as a paper tiger. But when it comes to a newborn defense alliance, they point to a 10-year crisis in Yemen and say, 'Look, this is not working.' We have only just started," Fidan stated. He was responding to claims that Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia represent the alliance's first test. Fidan asked former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey how many times NATO's Article 5 had been invoked, to which Jeffrey replied: only once.