Yemenupdated 1h ago2 min read
Erdogan Says Turkey Will Submit Mecca Mutual Defense Agreement With Saudi Arabia, Pakistan To Parliament
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Turkey will submit the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement to Parliament for ratification in coming days. The pact is trilateral between Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan aiming for collective defense.
Mecca pact heads to Turkey’s parliament
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Ankara will submit the Mecca Agreement on mutual defense with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to the parliament within days to complete domestic ratification procedures. Erdoğan condemned the Yemeni Houthi movement’s attacks on the Kingdom and said Turkey stands with Saudi Arabia and its people in facing what he described as illegal and inhumane attacks. Erdoğan said his country will continue to move to refer the mutual defense agreement to the parliament in the coming days, in preparation for completing the necessary constitutional procedures for ratification.
Erdoğan stressed that Turkey does not deal with events from a sectarian or ethnic perspective, but seeks to achieve peace and stability in the entire region. Erdoğan said Turkey will defend peace and work to consolidate it, contributing to stability and confronting the challenges the region faces.
Houthi strikes, Saudi backing
Erdoğan condemned the Houthi attacks that targeted King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh and extended condolences to the victims. Erdoğan asked God to have mercy on the brothers who died, among them those who were performing the Umrah, and wished a swift recovery for the wounded. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pledged to support Saudi Arabia “in every possible way” after Houthi attacks on airports in Riyadh and Abha killed 12 people and injured 309 others.
Sharif condemned the attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha International Airport as “heinous,” and he told Cabinet members that “We have a bilateral agreement, a trilateral agreement with regard to defense (of Saudi Arabia),” Sharif said Pakistan’s agreements demand it and so do its bonds of brotherhood, as he described protection of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina as a shared responsibility.
What the pact changes for Yemen
The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, signed in August by Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan, is described as aiming to boost collective security and promote the region’s peace and stability.
Daily Sabah said chiefs of staff of Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan met in Riyadh on Sept. 25 to discuss the future of the Mecca agreement and issues of common defense and security.
Daily Sabah said the defense and foreign ministers of the three countries reaffirmed their solidarity with Saudi Arabia and that Türkiye and Pakistan committed to “provide the agreed military forces and capabilities and ensure their rapid deployment” to the kingdom.
Daily Sabah argued that the pact’s implications for Yemen extend beyond its military capabilities, including weakening the ideological narrative through which the Houthis justify their regional role.
Daily Sabah also said the agreement could give Pakistan an additional channel to exert leverage over the Houthis through its ties with Iran, while the Houthis increasingly framed their confrontation with Saudi Arabia as part of a broader struggle against Israel and the United States.