Turkey denies report claiming Davutoğlu asked for base and arms for Syrian rebels

ANKARA

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. EPA photo

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has denied a report from Iranian Fars news agency claiming Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu asked Yemeni officials to provide a base and arms for the rebel Free Syrian Army.

“We call on regional and international public opinion to be careful regarding such news reports, which aim to manipulate opinions,” Selçuk Ünal, a Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman, told Anatolia news agency late on Oct. 25.

Davutoğlu’s visit to Yemen Oct. 20 and 21 was entirely devoted to developing bilateral relations and contacts with all political leadership representing the Yemeni people within the framework of national dialogue, Ünal said, adding that the visit pursued no other goals.

The spokesman called attention to previous manipulative reports by Fars.