Keen to avoid entanglement in regional conflicts, Turkey has refrained from joining the new US-led maritime coalition in the Red Sea. The naval mission was set up last month to protect shipping in the face of attacks on Israeli-linked vessels by Yemen’s Ansarullah movement, better known as the Houthis. Ankara is unlikely to participate in the initiative, preferring instead to balance its relations with various counterparts. Turkey is also wary of being cast into either an explicitly pro- or anti-Houthi bloc—and of shedding its pro-Palestinian positioning.

A new maritime coalition

Weeks of Houthi strikes on Israeli-linked vessels—ostensibly launched to force a ceasefire in Gaza—are already impacting regional security and world trade. The Yemeni group has attempted some 30 attacks in the Red Sea and the strategic Bab Al-Mandab Strait since Oct. 2023, causing some of the world's leading shipping companies to redraw their routes. The Red Sea is home to one of the world's busiest...