Syria’s government is considering whether to join a mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan, its foreign minister has said. Asaad al-Shaibani told the Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain on Saturday that “discussions are currently under way to evaluate Syria’s entry into the Mecca alliance.”
What the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement covers
The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement was signed by the three countries in the Saudi city of Mecca in August. It says an attack on one of them will be treated as an attack on all three, a structure that has been compared to the NATO alliance linking the United States, Canada and 30 European countries.
Saudi Arabia is under heavy fire from Yemen’s Houthis and is a key backer of the Syrian government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, which took power after former strongman Bashar al-Assad fell in December 2024. Under the pact, Pakistan and Turkiye have pledged military support to Riyadh as it faces escalating attacks from the Iran-backed group.
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Neither Islamabad nor Ankara has yet announced any attacks on the Houthis. Turkish government officials, whose country is still completing the pact’s ratification, have said any future military support would not include deploying troops to fight in Yemen or attack the Houthis.
Syria’s stance on regional security and Yemen
Speaking in Bahrain, al-Shaibani said Damascus was an “integral” part of regional security and would back any framework aimed at protecting regional stability. He stressed that the region was “in greater need than ever” of joint deterrence and defence systems.
He also said Syria supports the efforts of Yemen’s Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government to restore “sovereignty and stability across its entire territory”, according to Syrian state media. He urged all parties to support the unity and sovereignty of states.
Minister accuses Israel of repeated strikes
Separately, the minister said Israel had carried out more than 1,000 attacks on Syria in less than two years, killing dozens of people. “How can calls for border control and placing weapons exclusively under state control be justified while Syrian sovereignty is violated and targeted on a daily basis?” he asked.
