Turkiye says Mecca defence pact not aimed at Iran

What the report says

Turkiye’s foreign minister says a new trilateral defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is not aimed at Iran, after the agreement was signed in Mecca on Friday by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The arrangement says an armed attack on one member would be treated as an attack on all, but Hakan Fidan said the text does not name any country as a shared threat.

Fidan told Turkish state media that the deal is intended to function in a manner broadly similar to NATO’s collective-defence principle, while noting that support would depend on the circumstances and on a request from the country under attack. He said possible responses could include intelligence, logistics, ammunition or military deployment. The pact also foresees political and military committees, a secretariat in Saudi Arabia, and cooperation on training, intelligence sharing, logistics, threat assessments and interoperability.

The agreement is also expected to include defence-industry cooperation, which Fidan said was a major topic in Mecca. He added that work on the pact had been underway for nearly two years and eight months, suggesting it was not a quick response to current tensions involving Iran.

Iranian officials have reacted skeptically, warning Saudi Arabia not to rely on outside partners for security. Fidan also said the initiative is meant to strengthen regional responsibility for security and could expand beyond the three founding states, with Egypt mentioned as a possible future participant once technical issues are resolved.