Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan will hold their first meeting under a new defense pact on Monday in Istanbul, with senior officials from the three countries set to discuss expanding military cooperation and turning the agreement into an operational framework.
The meeting is expected to be attended by the foreign and defense ministers of all three countries, as well as their respective chiefs of staff, a source familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post.
The talks will focus on strengthening the militaries’ ability to operate jointly, enhancing defense capabilities, and expanding cooperation in defense technology and production.
The “Mecca Joint Defense Agreement,” signed on August 7 by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, establishes a framework for collective defense under which an armed attack against any one of the three signatories would be considered an attack against all three.
The agreement is similar to Article V of the NATO Treaty, which states that an armed attack against one or more NATO members in Europe or North America will be considered an attack against all members, requiring collective assistance.
However, the publicly-released text of the Mecca agreement does not specify precisely what military commitments each country would undertake in the event of an attack.
New alliance established as tensions run high throughout Middle East
Pakistan, one of the signatories, is a nuclear-armed state.
The establishment of the alliance comes amid growing tensions in the Middle East, particularly over Iran and the security of Gulf states. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are increasingly concerned about Iran’s military activity and the vulnerability of critical infrastructure and energy routes. At the same time, there are growing concerns about a potential decline in the US commitment to the region.
The alliance could also have implications beyond its three founding members.
Turkey has already signaled that the framework could expand to include additional countries, with Egypt among those mentioned. Bangladesh is also considering joining the agreement.
“If there is a security arrangement among Islamic nations in the Middle East, it is not unusual for us to consider participating. It is being viewed positively,” Bangladeshi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir recently said.
Although the agreement is officially presented as a defensive arrangement, it comes against the backdrop of a significant deterioration in the regional security situation.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Sunday called on Muslim countries, particularly the Gulf states, to unite against what he described as their “real enemy.”
The agreement could also have significant implications for Israel
Although Israel is not explicitly mentioned in the pact, Turkey has adopted increasingly critical positions toward Jerusalem in recent years, while Saudi Arabia continues to set its own political conditions regarding normalization with Israel.
The senior officials are expected to discuss coordination mechanisms, military exercises, defense production and technological cooperation, as well as ways to improve the three countries’ ability to respond jointly to future threats.
The Istanbul meeting is expected to provide the first indication of how seriously the three governments intend to turn the agreement from a political document into a functioning operational framework.
“The goal is to turn words into action,” a source familiar with the matter told the Post.
'International security issues will be on the agenda'
Foreign and defense ministers, as well as the chiefs of staff, of the three countries will attend the meeting in Istanbul, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said.
"International security issues will be on the agenda," the source said, with discussions expected to cover enhancing defense capabilities, greater interoperability among their armed forces and deepening cooperation in the defense industry, including joint production and development.
Shared concerns over Iran, Israel
The three nations share concerns about the military stances of Israel and revolutionary Shi'ite Iran, as long-time ally the US struggles to contain regional upheaval that has caused a global energy crisis.
Six months after the US and Israel launched the war against Iran, negotiations are at an impasse, and US President Donald Trump's administration has stepped up efforts to punish Iran financially with what it has billed as an "economic D-Day."
Turkey, which has NATO's second-largest military, has said the pact with nuclear-armed Pakistan and top oil exporter Saudi Arabia was open to expansion - with Egypt as a potential candidate - and did not seek to replace existing alliances.
Reuters contributed to this report.