Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said the new defence agreement between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey is not directed against Iran or any other country, describing the pact as a step towards greater regional stability.
Speaking to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency on Saturday, Fidan said the three countries did not consider any particular nation an enemy unless it took hostile action against them.
“We don’t have anything written down — nothing we’ve signed — that defines a common threat,” Fidan said. “Any country that does not attack us is not a target for us.”
Leaders Sign Agreement in Mecca
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the agreement in the Saudi holy city of Mecca on Friday.
The agreement establishes a mutual defence commitment under which an attack on any one of the three countries would be regarded as an attack on all three.
Known as the “Mecca joint defence agreement”, the pact brings together Saudi Arabia, a major oil producer, Pakistan, a nuclear-armed state, and Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army and a growing defence industry.
The agreement is intended to strengthen co-operation and deterrence amid heightened regional uncertainty and threats linked to the war in Iran.
Mutual Defence Clause Compared With NATO Article 5
Fidan said the agreement’s mutual defence provision was technically similar to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which treats an armed attack against one NATO member as an attack against all 32 members.
He explained that assistance under the new pact would depend on the circumstances and the level of the threat facing the country requesting support.
A member state would first have to formally request assistance from its partners. Support could include intelligence sharing, logistical assistance or the deployment of military units, depending on the situation.
“These are multi-layered matters that vary according to the scale of the threat,” Fidan said. “This is the perspective we have set out so far in our work.”
Other Countries Express Interest in Joining
The Turkish foreign minister said several countries had expressed interest in joining the agreement, although he did not identify them.
Fidan also indicated that Egypt could participate in a future phase of the arrangement, describing the country as a “natural partner”.
Ministers and Military Chiefs to Hold Regular Meetings
The agreement provides for regular committee meetings involving the foreign ministers and defence ministers of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey, alongside the chiefs of their armed forces.
The three countries will also establish a secretariat in Saudi Arabia to support the implementation and co-ordination of the agreement, Fidan said.
The pact formalises closer defence co-operation among the three countries while, according to Turkey’s foreign minister, leaving its potential assistance arrangements dependent on the nature of any future threat.
