Turkiye has submitted a trilateral defence pact with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to its parliament for ratification. The agreement, also known as the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, was signed on August 7 and contains 16 articles, according to the document submitted to parliament, which a news agency has seen.
The pact is designed to build a joint defence architecture in the region in case of an armed attack on any member. Its provisions are set out article by article. In Article 1, the signatories commit to using “all necessary means” to eliminate threats to one another’s territorial integrity.
Mutual assistance if a member comes under attack
Article 2 describes what follows if an attack occurs. If one party is hit by armed aggression from another country or group of countries, the others must give help immediately, drawing on every mutual assistance tool available to them.
This provision resembles Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, the founding document of NATO, which treats an attack on one member as an attack on all. Under the draft, each signatory, namely Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye, “will decide on the scope and nature of the support to be provided” after assessing the assistance required. The three countries would cooperate within their available resources, including military capabilities.
Earlier this month, the three countries agreed to activate “deterrence measures” under the pact and rapidly deploy forces to Saudi Arabia. The aim is to counter attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, an armed group also known as Ansar Allah.
Cooperation areas, governance and term of the pact
Beyond mutual assistance, the draft covers several other areas. These include:
- Defence industry cooperation
- Intelligence sharing and logistical support
- Joint training and the fight against “all means of terrorism”, including at the operational level
- Joint research, development and innovation in advanced technology
- Ensuring military readiness
The draft also provides for a defence committee that would include the foreign and defence ministers of all three states. Other countries may join the agreement, but aspirants would need the approval of all three founding members. The pact would last 10 years, after which any country can withdraw.
Ratification timeline and political reactions
Correspondent Resul Serdar said the ratification process is likely to take “quite some time”, even though the ruling coalition needs only a simple majority. He said parties represented in parliament would debate the provisions, and that heated discussions could follow because the opposition has its own objectives. Serdar added that ratification alone would not lead to the deployment of Turkish troops, which would require separate legislative steps.
Turkiye’s parliamentary speaker will refer the agreement to the parliament’s foreign affairs commission. According to a source who spoke to a news agency, the commission could debate it as early as Friday. Once it reaches the commission, the contents and details of the agreement are expected to be made public.
Burhanettin Duran, communications director of the Turkish presidency, said on X that the partnership aims to “strengthen collective deterrence, enhance joint capabilities in the defence sector, and safeguard security and stability in our region.” He said the process marked an important milestone towards the “institutionalisation” of strategic cooperation among the three countries.
On Monday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke of escalating violence between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis. “As I often say, we are surrounded by a ring of fire,” he said, referring to Houthi attacks on Riyadh airport. In recent weeks, the Houthis have carried out missile and drone attacks on the kingdom, including on oil facilities and Riyadh’s main airport. The Saudi-led coalition supporting the Yemeni government has launched air attacks on Houthi positions.
