Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Thursday that the Mecca defense agreement with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is defensive in nature and would not require Ankara to authorize attacks on other countries.
The pact would not require Turkey to deploy troops to another country for the purpose of carrying out an attack, Mr. Fidan said at a joint press conference with Hungarian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Anita Orban.
“Once a country that is a party to the agreement is attacked, you stand by it for its defense. This is not an attack agreement,” Mr. Fidan said.
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He added that the Erdogan administration had submitted the agreement to parliament for approval this week.
The Mecca defense pact was expanded this year to include Turkey. Some analysts predicted the agreement could institute a Middle East-centric alliance akin to NATO. That theory is being tested as Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen launch attacks on Saudi Arabia.
The agreement was invoked this week in an emergency meeting in Riyadh following a volley of missile and drone attacks from the Houthis on oil infrastructure and airports.
So far, Turkey has sent air defense systems, technical personnel and a limited number of troops with the express purpose of defending Saudi Arabian territory from Houthi attacks.
Pakistan, meanwhile, has deployed at least 8,000 troops, two squadrons of drones, air defense systems and more than a dozen fighter jets.
Those jets were used to strike Houthi targets in Yemen this week, according to an unnamed Pakistani military source cited by the New York Times.
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