Türkiye is considering military support for Saudi Arabia as Houthi attacks in Yemen intensify, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said, under a new three-way defence pact with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Fidan said Riyadh could have military needs arising from the attacks and that Ankara would examine how it could assist the kingdom. He was speaking to Turkish broadcaster NTV on Friday.
He said it was unacceptable for Saudi Arabia to be drawn into the US-Iran war, adding that Riyadh had no wish to join the conflict. Fidan also said proposals had been put to all sides in an effort to end the fighting, but gave no further details.
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia have continued exchanging attacks in Yemen. The Houthis have made gains that have brought large areas of the Red Sea coast, including the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, under their control.
Pakistan has made a similar commitment to defend Saudi Arabia under the agreement. Lieutenant-General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, a spokesman for Pakistan’s military, told Arab News that Islamabad would defend the kingdom “to any extent”, including “physically”.
He did not say whether Saudi Arabia had requested additional Pakistani troops. Pakistan’s Foreign Office has said no military response was currently being discussed under the pact, but that Islamabad would act “when time comes”.
The agreement, initially known as the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, was signed in Mecca on August 7 by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Officials meeting in Istanbul formally named it the Mecca Defence Alliance on August 31 and agreed to establish a secretariat in Riyadh, initially led by a Pakistani secretary-general.
Under its founding principle, an armed attack on any one of the three countries is to be treated as an attack on all three. Fidan has said the alliance is based on respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in internal affairs, and remains open to other members.
Analysts have questioned how much practical substance the pact currently has, noting that it lacks the integrated command structure and standing forces associated with Nato. Its institutional arrangements, including how the mutual defence clause would be activated, have yet to be clearly defined.
