Turkey sends Mecca defence pact with Saudi Arabia, Pakistan to parliament

Ankara has sent a defence treaty binding it to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to its parliament for approval, three parliamentary sources said on Tuesday, a step that brings NATO's second-biggest army closer to a formal pledge to help defend Riyadh against attacks from Yemen's Houthis, the Cyprus Mail reported.

The three countries signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement on 7 August, under which an armed attack on one member is considered an attack on all, according to the Cyprus Mail and Bulgaria's NOVA News. The agreement runs indefinitely, and none of the three states can withdraw from it during its first 10 years, which begin once ratification is complete and the treaty takes effect, NOVA News reported.

Once parliament speaker Numan Kurtulmus returns from a visit to Kyrgyzstan, he is expected to pass the treaty to the foreign affairs commission for scrutiny, with a first debate possible by Friday, according to two of the sources cited by the Cyprus Mail. For now, Ankara's role under the pact looks modest: an unnamed Turkish official described it as supplying equipment, sharing intelligence and providing weapons systems, rather than sending troops anywhere.

The agreement's 16 articles, published by Middle East Eye and confirmed by Turkish outlet Sozcu, commit the parties to immediate mutual assistance if any one of them faces armed attack or military aggression, with the scope and nature of support to be decided after assessing the need, in line with the UN Charter's right of self-defence. The pact also commits the three countries to closer defence-industry cooperation, including joint arms production, intelligence-sharing, training exchanges and a Strategic Political and Defence Committee of foreign and defence ministers meeting twice a year, 24 Chasa reported.

Turkey's foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, played down the military scope of the commitment when asked about the Houthi threat to Saudi Arabia, describing the Mecca Agreement as defensive rather than offensive and ruling out sending Turkish forces abroad to strike another country, the Cyprus Mail reported. Separately, Ankara has criticised the Houthi strikes on Saudi territory, signalled it could supply military technology Riyadh needs, and joined a Saudi-led effort to keep Red Sea shipping lanes safe.

The treaty explicitly states that the new commitments do not override obligations under existing international agreements, meaning Turkey retains its commitments as a NATO member, NOVA News reported, though the new alliance raises questions about how Ankara's different defence obligations fit together.