Turkey’s Ties to Al-Qaeda Entities in Yemen Threaten Regional Security

“Turkey is a country that loves us, and we love it,” declared Abu Omar al-Nahdi, a former emir in al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch and now the leader of the newly formed Change and Liberation Movement in Yemen’s Hadhramaut region. The group openly embraces a pro-Turkey stance and reportedly receives political backing from Ankara. Nahdi himself reportedly maintains ties with key Turkish decision-makers. His movement appears to serve Ankara’s broader strategy of exploiting Yemen’s fragmentation — the Houthi rebels hold Sanaa, the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council controls Aden, and the Presidential Leadership Council forces dominate the remaining areas.

The Change and Liberation Movement declared itself “a realistic response to the call for change” during a moment it described as “a decisive crossroads between surrender and renaissance, between dependency and national sovereignty.” The group vowed to move “beyond slogans toward an executable vision and practical project” to rebuild Yemen. Its core priorities are combating corruption, restructuring governance based on justice and competence, and guaranteeing equal citizenship. Actual change, it stressed, “comes through political will and grassroots engagement.”

Al-Nahdi’s Reinvention From Al-Qaeda Commander to Turkish Proxy

Abu Omar al-Nahdi, once a senior commander in al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has reemerged after years of internal conflict with AQAP’s Saudi leader, Khalid Batarfi. A Yemeni media outlet based in Aden reported that “Al-Nahdi had considered defecting from al-Qaeda and joining ISIS, but he changed his mind, opting instead to take refuge in Turkey.” The report added that Turkey “seeks to promote him politically following the model of his former comrade, Ahmad al-Sharaa.” Much like Sharaa, a former jihadist who is now Syria’s interim president with Turkish support, al-Nahdi appears to be following the same playbook.

Turkish Ties to the Movement

The Change and Liberation Movement’s ties to Turkey are increasingly difficult to ignore. Al-Nahdi has depicted Turkey as a political patron, declaring, “We support the unity of Syria just as we support the unity of Yemen … and Turkey stands with us on both fronts.” The group’s emergence has been amplified by Yemeni activists based in Turkey, fueling suspicions of support from the Muslim Brotherhood or Turkish intelligence. One pro-Erdogan activist tweeted, “A descendant of the Ottomans — the Turkish player — is entering the Yemeni arena … What unites us with you is faith, shared history, and a common destiny.”

Turkey’s Wider Ambitions

Turkey intends to position itself as the most influential foreign actor in Syria and the broader Middle East. Following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Turkey built close ties with jihadist entities fighting the now ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, led by Sharaa. To further Turkish goals of using Syria to regionally project power, Ankara is promoting the new Syrian government as a moderate entity, seeking to sign military cooperation and assistance deals with Damascus.

Beyond Syria, Erdogan has worked to expand Turkey’s military and diplomatic ties across the Horn of Africa. It has visibly increased its footprint on the African continent by establishing a military presence in Somalia and signing a uranium mining deal with the government of Niger.

Finally, Ankara’s ties to Yemeni al-Qaeda entities are reflective of its established support for the Muslim Brotherhood and related Salafist groups. Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) is the Turkish arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, assisting the transnational Islamist network in establishing television and radio channels, foundations, schools, and businesses throughout Turkey. As the United States intensifies military pressure on the Houthis, it must simultaneously prepare for the emergence of a parallel threat: the growing Turkish footprint in Yemen and Ankara’s reported ties to extremist factions, including al-Qaeda-linked actors.

Ahmad Sharawi is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where he focuses on Middle East affairs, specifically the Levant, Iraq, and Iranian intervention in Arab affairs, as well as U.S. foreign policy toward the region. Sinan Ciddi is a nonresident senior fellow at FDD. For more analysis from Ahmad, Sinan, and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Ahmad and Sinan on X @AhmadA_Sharawi and@SinanCiddi. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.