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Mecca pact, Article 5-style
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said a trilateral defence agreement signed in Mecca between Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is “technically the same as NATO's Article 5,” but differs because it “does not specify any common threat.”
“The Mecca defence agreement is technically the same as NATO's Article 5”
Fidan told Anadolu that the pact names no target and is defensive, adding, “No country is our target as long as they don't attack member countries,” while describing the agreement as a response to “growing instability across the region.”
The agreement was signed on Friday by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at Al-Safa Palace in the Saudi holy city of Mecca, according to Muslim Network TV.
Muslim Network TV said the pact establishes a collective-security commitment in which “an armed attack against any one of the three states is to be regarded as an attack against all three.”
No Iran target, response mechanics
Al Jazeera reported that Fidan insisted the Mecca pact is “not directed at Iran,” saying “There is no common threat that we have put in writing.”
Fidan also described how the clause would operate, telling Anadolu that a country under attack would have to request assistance and specify what kind of support it needed, with responses ranging from “intelligence and logistics to ammunition or the deployment of military units.”
AP likewise said Fidan stressed the pact is not aimed at Iran or any other country, quoting him: “We have nothing in writing — nothing we have signed — that defines a common threat.”
AP added that Fidan said any country that does not attack the signatories would not be a target, quoting him: “Any country that does not attack us is not a target for us.”
Expansion hopes and regional stakes
Fidan said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s vision is to expand the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement beyond three countries and bring all countries under the framework if necessary, and he said he believed Egypt would join in its next phase.
“Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are not expansionist countries”
Muslim Network TV said OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha welcomed the pact as a “historic” and strategically significant step, describing it as an important strategic step that reflects the three countries’ commitment to strengthening regional and international cooperation.
Al Jazeera reported that Iranian officials questioned the pact’s significance, with Mahmoud Nabavian calling cooperation with Türkiye and Pakistan something that “would not guarantee their security,” and with Ebrahim Rezaei dismissing it as a “paper agreement.”
In a separate reaction, TRT World said Fidan called for continuing the international political isolation of Israel, saying this is something Israel fears the most, while also arguing that the alliance is inherently non-threatening because “Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are not expansionist countries.”
