Turkiye lays out ‘mechanisms’ of defence pact with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia

What the report says

Turkiye has outlined how its new defence agreement with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is expected to work, saying the three countries plan to create formal coordination channels among senior ministers and military chiefs, carry out joint exercises, and expand cooperation in the defence sector. The comments came from Turkiye’s defence ministry during a weekly briefing in Ankara, days after the pact was signed in Mecca.

According to the ministry, the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement would treat an armed attack on one member as an attack on all, in a framework that it compared with NATO-style collective defence. The ministry said the goal is to give defence and military ties a more permanent and structured basis, with cooperation covering land, sea and air drills as well as air defence and unmanned systems.

The ministry also said the three states want to move beyond simple procurement toward joint development, production, technology sharing, and long-term maintenance and logistics support. It highlighted priorities such as unmanned and autonomous systems, electronic warfare and artificial intelligence capabilities. The arrangement has been presented as open to expansion, and Turkiye has said it is not meant to replace existing alliances.

The broader context is regional security and shifting defence partnerships in the Middle East and South Asia. Al Jazeera reported that Turkiye is also taking part in talks in Jeddah on protecting Red Sea shipping, while Turkish officials used the same briefing to call for stronger international pressure on Israel over Gaza and Lebanon.