President Al-Alimi Addresses Yemeni People on 64th Anniversary of Glorious September 26 Revolution

  Aden

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Allah Almighty says:

“And victory comes only from Allah, the Almighty, the All-Wise.”

My fellow Yemenis at home and abroad,

“The brave men and women of our Armed Forces and Security Forces, and all military formations”

On behalf of myself and my brothers, the members of the Presidential Leadership Council and the government, I extend my warmest congratulations to you on the 64th anniversary of the glorious September 26 Revolution. The revolution that brought an end to the oppressive Imamate rule and upheld the values of equal citizenship, the rule of law, and the elimination of class distinctions.

On this occasion, I salute in particular the brave men and women of our Armed Forces and Security Forces, those stationed on the various fronts of honor, the families of our heroic martyrs and wounded, and our steadfast people in every city and village. Foremost among them, I salute our resilient people living in areas forcibly controlled by the Houthi militias.

Great people of Yemen,

The best way to honor September is to remain faithful to the sacrifices through which Yemenis built their republican glory. The best tribute to this great legacy is to keep our Republic alive in our hearts, our conscience, and our institutions; to ensure that the interests of the people remain above all else, and that the law remains supreme over everyone.

September 26 marked a watershed between two eras. The first was an era in which an oppressive group claimed that ruling Yemen was its exclusive right. The second was an era in which our people declared that Yemen belongs to all Yemenis, that authority derives from the people, and that the future is shaped by the will of Yemenis—not by myths of divine entitlement or claims of religious or hereditary privilege.

It is one of history’s ironies that the Houthi militias’ coup came in the very month in which Yemenis commemorate the overthrow of the hated Imamate regime. The group sought to revive the past through September, only for September itself to remain a witness to the impossibility of turning history back.

Force may impose a reality for a time, and militias may isolate a city or village from state institutions. But they cannot conceal the bright light of our great September Revolution, forged by Yemenis through their strength, their precious blood, and their enormous sacrifices.

Great people of Yemen,

I address you today at a defining moment in the history of our homeland. After years of war and suffering and after the state has exhausted every possible means to spare our people the devastating consequences brought about by the terrorist Houthi militias.

Over the past years, the state has consistently placed peace above every other option. We have done so out of the conviction that Yemeni blood is more precious than any political project. We also believe that the future of this country can only be built through the state and protected by national will and the rule of law.

Yemenis have endured years of hardship marked by the suspension of salaries, deteriorating public services, economic collapse, displacement, and the loss of loved ones. They have shown a level of patience rarely witnessed among peoples in our time.

This suffering was not the result of a blockade, as the militias have claimed. Rather, it was the result of an oppressive coup project that viewed the state only as an adversary. It exploited the suffering of the people as a means of survival and blackmail, while dragging Yemen into regional conflicts. In doing so, it sought to evade the priorities of citizens and the requirements of peace and development.

Free citizens of Yemen everywhere,

Since my brothers, the members of the Presidential Leadership Council, and I assumed responsibility for leading the state, we have placed the interests of Yemenis above all else. We have never closed the door to peace, nor have we hesitated to support any genuine initiative aimed at alleviating the suffering of our people.

With the generous support of our faithful brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, we worked to maintain the flow of goods, medicines, and petroleum products. We also worked to keep Sana’a Airport operational. This was before the Houthi militias’ terrorist attacks on commercial shipping and waterways caused damage to the airport’s infrastructure and the assets of our national carrier, Yemenia.

The attacks and grave violations being committed by the Houthi militias today represent a dangerous escalation. They place the state leadership before its constitutional and moral responsibility to deter the threat and protect civilians. The militias have once again chosen the language of force and arms over dialogue and peace.

Accordingly, the developments witnessed in parts of Taiz, Marib, Al-Jawf, Hodeidah, Lahj, Hadhramout, Al-Bayda, Shabwa, and Dhalea are an extension of the policy of destabilization and an attempt to impose a new reality by force at the expense of Yemenis’ blood, security, and the future of their country.

The danger does not stop there. The Houthi project seeks to turn our territory and coastline into a continuing threat to the security of Yemen and the region as a whole.

Experience has shown that making concessions to the militias does not lead to peace. Rather, it gives them an opportunity to regroup and prepare for another round of escalation.

Every time the state has extended its hand in the hope of peace, the rogue militias have chosen escalation, plunging the country back into a cycle of war and dragging Yemenis into futile conflicts that serve neither Yemen nor its people. They have also persisted in destroying the social fabric, marginalizing Yemeni tribes, and undermining their longstanding customs and traditions, thereby obstructing every opportunity for recovery and prolonging the suffering of our people.

Great people of Yemen,

Yemen deserves a future worthy of its history, its strategic position, and the potential of its people. It deserves to be at the forefront of those benefiting from the progress and prosperity of the countries of the region—not to be an arena of chaos, a platform for pre-state projects and myths of divine entitlement, or a source of threats to the security of neighboring countries and regional and international peace.

The Houthi militia initiated this escalation inside Yemen and across its borders, causing the deaths of civilians and terrorizing and starving the Yemeni people. The state has therefore taken all necessary measures to protect civilians, preserve social peace, and safeguard the country’s supreme interests.

In accordance with our constitutional responsibilities and the decisions of the National Defense Council, I call upon our great people, on this glorious occasion, to undertake general mobilization and national call to arm. I urge all Yemenis to rally around their Armed Forces and Security Forces and join their ranks through official channels. I also call upon everyone to contribute, each from their respective position, to the defense of the Republic and its national institutions.

This is the historic moment for all Yemenis to rise together, restore our country to its rightful place among nations and honor the sacrifices of the first generation of heroic revolutionaries. It is the moment to uphold human dignity, and secure for their sons and daughters the right to safety, education, employment, and a future free from violence and from the projects of sectarian and racist militias operating across borders.

Great people of Yemen,

Major national battles are not measured by an advance here or a setback there, nor by a position that may change from one day to the next. They are measured by clarity of purpose, firmness of resolve, and the ability to turn crises into opportunities and challenges into additional sources of strength and cohesion.

Our people and national institutions have demonstrated this time and again. Whenever the militias have sought to close one door, Yemenis have opened a thousand others. Whenever they believed they had imposed a reality through force, the passage of time has demonstrated that uncontrolled arms can never replace an inclusive state project, regardless of the sacrifices involved.

Therefore, I say to you today that our objective is clear to all: to restore state institutions and extend state sovereignty over the entirety of our national territory, all the way to Sana’a. No temporary advance, loss of a position, or change in the lines of confrontation will deter us from achieving this objective.

The Houthi militias’ project, founded on the myth of divine entitlement and claims of exclusive religious privilege, contradicts the nature of Yemen, its history, and the spirit of its Republic. It is a project that carries within itself the causes of its own demise.

Our battle, therefore, is not merely a battle for territory. It is a battle for existence, identity, and the future. Yemenis will not rest until they restore their national institutions and Yemen becomes a homeland for all its people.

Dear citizens, men and women, in the governorates forcibly controlled by the militias,

I address you today because you have been, and remain, at the heart of the state’s responsibility, and because you have borne more than anyone else the bitterness of this war. You were at the forefront of the first generation of September revolutionaries who opposed the Imamate project and fought for the republican system.

You have paid a heavy price over these years. Salaries were suspended, and millions of your relatives were forced into displacement to escape the militias’ repression. The militias diverted resources to their war effort, killed your sons, eroded your identity, and confiscated what remained of your means of earning a dignified livelihood.

In return for these burdens, the state has assumed its responsibility toward displaced persons and citizens within the limits of its available resources. With generous support from our brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it has worked to provide relief, services, and the means for a dignified life, while receiving and caring for displaced people across the various governorates.

But this suffering must not become a permanent fate. The time has come for this long chapter of suffering to end and for the Yemeni family to regain its security, tranquility, and normal life.

The state does not view you as a party to a conflict. Rather, it regards you as its people, its partners, and those with the foremost right to peace and stability. What has been imposed upon you by force of arms cannot diminish your status or your full right to a homeland that embraces all its people.

The Yemeni people have sacrificed more of their young people than can be borne. Protect your sons for life, education, and a promising future. Do not allow them to become fuel for the militias’ wars and reckless adventures, which have brought destruction upon Yemen, its people, and its national resources.

Every young man rescued today from the project of this terrorist group is a building block in the Yemen we seek to build—a new Yemen reconciled with itself, its neighbors, and the international community.

Great people of Yemen,

Brave men and women of our Armed Forces and Security Forces, members of the Popular Resistance, and all those fighting for the dignity and greatness of Yemen,

You carry today the honor of defending the Republic and the state and protecting our people’s right to a secure future. This requires the highest standards of responsibility and discipline, the protection of civilians, the safeguarding of public and private property, and strict adherence to the law.

Our Armed Forces must remain a model of the state we aspire to build, not merely a force that restores territory, but an institution that restores the people’s trust and confidence above all else.

In this regard, we place great importance on the continued honorable role of Yemen’s tribes in standing alongside the state, its institutions, and its Armed Forces and Security Forces, and on their continued national role in promoting solidarity and cohesion, and preventing acts of revenge and tribal retaliation.

At this pivotal moment, I also reaffirm, on behalf of myself and my brothers, the members of the Presidential Leadership Council and the government, our full commitment to the outcome of the South-South dialogue sponsored by our brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in a manner that ensures a just and comprehensive solution to the southern issue.

The southern governorates have borne the burdens of war, displacement, and economic pressures and have made sacrifices that require us to honor their people and the efforts of their loyal sons.

Great people of Yemen,

Out of the state’s responsibility to prevent further bloodshed among Yemenis, bring an end to the war, and prevent acts of revenge and retaliation, I announce today the opening of the door for a safe return to the ranks of the Republic and constitutional legitimacy.

I affirm that anyone who, from today, on the eve of September 26, takes the initiative to leave the terrorist Houthi militias, cease fighting in their ranks, or cease working on their behalf, will be covered by a comprehensive amnesty to be issued subsequently in accordance with constitutional and legal procedures.

This will include a commitment to regularize the status of military and security personnel in a manner that preserves their legally acquired employment rights.

On this glorious occasion, I also wish to express my profound thanks and appreciation to our brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Coalition countries for their continued support for the Yemeni government, people, and Armed Forces.

I call upon our brotherly and friendly countries that seek security and stability in Yemen, the Red Sea, the region, and the world to stand alongside our people, government, and Armed Forces, and to support the Coalition, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in ridding our country of the terrorist Houthi militia.

Restoring state institutions is not solely a Yemeni interest; it is in the interest of all countries of the region and the world.

Great people of Yemen,

Sixty-four years later, September returns to place before us the same question that our fathers answered one morning in 1962:

Whom does Yemen belong to?

Our answer today is the same as theirs:

Yemen belongs to all Yemenis.

A modern, civil, republican state in which sovereignty belongs to the people, citizenship and the law stand above every privilege, and there is no place for sectarianism or racism.

A Yemen reconciled with itself, its Gulf identity, and its Arab identity.

This is the Yemen our people deserve. For this Yemen, we shall move forward together until it becomes a lived reality, whatever sacrifices may be required.

May mercy and eternal peace be upon the martyrs.

May the wounded recover.

Freedom for the detainees.

Long live Yemen, free and proud.

Glorious September.

Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you.