Turkey lays out plans for defence pact with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia

REUTERS/ AFP -- Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia will form political and military mechanisms under a defence pact signed between the regional powers last week, Turkiye’s defence ministry said on Thursday, adding the alliance would also deepen defence industry cooperation.

The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement was signed last week as the Middle East grapples with fallout from the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has dragged in regional players and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.

At a weekly briefing in Ankara, the ministry said the mechanisms would include the three countries’ defence ministers, foreign ministers, and military chiefs.

It added that the joint military exercises were also being planned under the pact, while cooperation could include joint production and technology sharing in the defence industry.

The remarks come a day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he hoped more countries would join the agreement.

“Our vision for it is not limited to the three countries,” the Turkish leader told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat daily.

“Rather, we aspire for it to grow, and perhaps appropriate conditions will emerge one day for all countries of the region to gather under its umbrella.”

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday said Turkiye expected Egypt to join the pact “in the next stage”, telling the Anadolu state news agency only “a few technical issues” stood in the way.

Egypt has not commented on the agreement nor on the remarks by Fidan, who will visit Cairo on Thursday and Friday.Kuwait, Bahrain and Somalia are among the countries that have welcomed it. Iran’s comments also took a rather positive tone, stressing its stance of pursuing “security mechanisms based on cooperation between regional countries”.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif affirmed that the defence pact was “entirely for defensive purposes”, and not for any aggression.