The Turkish Defense Ministry revealed new details on Thursday of the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, a pact Ankara signed with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan that now requires each country to treat an attack against one as an attack against all.
The three countries signed in deal in the eponymous Islamic holy city on Friday, claiming the pact was not intended to threaten any third party and that they would consider adding members to the agreement. The deal unites three of the most powerful military and diplomatic states in the Muslim world and grants Saudi Arabia, home to the holiest sites in the religion, protection from a nuclear power and a NATO power while it regularly faces attacks from neighboring Iran and its terrorist proxies, most prominently the Yemeni Houthi terrorist organization.
The context of Saudi Arabia facing the persistent threat of Iranian terrorism led many international observers to suggest that the objective of the agreement was to protect all three states from Iran. Geographically, the three form a near-complete circle surrounding Iran, facilitating joint response. The Iranian government denied feeling threatened, however, and on the contrary welcomed the agreement as a sign that all three nations were looking to depend less directly on military support from the United States, with whom Iran is currently embroiled in a war.
In addition to the commitment to defend each other in case of attack, Turkish Defense Ministry spokesman Rear Adm. Zeki Akturk told reporters that the agreement aims to create more spaces for military cooperation, including training together to practice joint operations and working together on advanced military technology. Turkey has become one of the world’s most successful defense technology hubs after the development and marketing of the Bayraktar drone, which the governments of Ukraine and Azerbaijan have used, respectively, to defend their homeland against a Russian invasion and to complete the genocide of the indigenous Armenian people of Nagorno-Karabakh.
“The aim is to begin with command-post and field exercises and, at later stages, conduct joint exercises involving land, naval, air, air defense and unmanned systems,” Akturk explained, according to the Turkish state outlet Anadolu Agency. The spokesman described the objective of the deal as creating a more “institutionalized and sustainable” mechanism for the countries’ armed forces to practice together. He noted the three countries had already come to some bilateral agreements to work together, but the new agreement streamlines these prior deals. The agreement would also create communications platforms so military leaders from all three countries could more easily communicate with each other and regularly check in on relevant activities.
The Turkish Defense Ministry spokesman also highlighted the development of high technology defense systems as a reason for signing the agreement. Akturk emphasized that the three countries were looking to invest in the advancement of “autonomous systems, electronic warfare and artificial intelligence-supported capabilities,” Anadolu reported.
“In this context, the aim is not only to procure products and systems but also to ensure joint development and production, technology cooperation and sustainable maintenance and logistics support,” he said.
Other reports cited the Turkish Defense Ministry as stating that the mutual defense deal would require the same kind of response as Article 5 of NATO, the provision in the military alliance that states that an attack on one member is an attack on all, and should be responded to as such. Akturk emphasized that Turkey, as a NATO country, did not view the new alliance as “an alternative or rival” to NATO but, rather, a complimentary mechanism that reinforces the peace that NATO seeks to maintain.
The Turkish government also left open the possibility that the three countries would welcome new members to the Mecca alliance. Multiple reports have identified Egypt as a potential fourth partner, though the involved countries have not made any official declaration.
Following the announcement of the Mecca Pact on Friday, the three countries issued a statement insisting that their alliance was intended to intimidate any neighbors. While not naming Iran directly, the statement did appear to address suggestions that Saudi Arabia had acted to create a network around itself to protect from further Iranian terrorism.
“The agreement is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stipulates that any armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all,” the joint statement read. “The agreement does not represent any orientation toward building a military axis or sectarian/religious bloc, and it is not linked to nuclear endeavors or an arms race, but rather to building sustainable self-reliant capabilities.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry, approached about the pact on Monday, claimed that it represented a positive development for Iran.
“The countries of the region have realized that security is not a commodity that can be bought from false brokers,” spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told reporters, referring to the United States.
“Any plan that is based on the geopolitical and historical realities of the region is comprehensive and inclusive and correctly identifies the enemy and the threat, has a chance of helping to strengthen security and prevent instability and abuses by the Zionist enemy and its allies,” he added.
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