Erdogan Signs Mecca Security Pact With Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, Turkey Officials Keep Trip Secret

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan travelled to Mecca on Friday to sign a security pact with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, and Turkish officials chose to keep the trip secret as it did not appear on Erdogan’s official schedule.

“Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday that Ankara had spent two years trying to persuade all of the parties involved to sign the security pact.”

Middle East Eye

Middle East Eye reported that Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara had spent two years trying to persuade all of the parties involved to sign the security pact, which includes a collective-defence provision resembling Nato’s Article 5.

Al Jazeera

The Jerusalem Post quoted Emirati researcher and foreign policy expert Huda Albadi describing the pact as “a “paper tiger,” while Reuters reported Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that Iran sees no reason to be concerned the pact is directed against Tehran.

In the same Reuters account, Baghaei said the pact showed a shift in regional countries’ approach to security, with greater reliance on their own capabilities rather than outside powers.

Reuters quoted Esmaeil Baghaei saying, “Any plan that is based on the geopolitical and historical realities of the region, is comprehensive and inclusive,” and he added that it correctly identifies the enemy and the threat.

The Jerusalem Post also cited Baghaei’s framing, but it paired it with criticism from Huda Albadi, who warned that the pact would be seen as a sign of a concerning regional mentality that would cast Israel as the destabilizing power.

Al Jazeera Centre for Studies

The Jerusalem Post further reported that Iranian deputy energy minister Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi said arrangements had been made for Iran to import 450 megawatts of electricity from Turkey.

In the same Jerusalem Post account, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told Pakistan media that there should be “a united military front” against Israel, which he described as a “threat to the entire Muslim world.”

Middle East Eye reported that Egypt held back from joining the defence pact at this stage, with Fidan telling reporters, “I believe that, in the next stage, Egypt will also be part of the alliance.”

“I believe that, in the next stage, Egypt will also be part of the alliance”

Middle East Eye

The same Middle East Eye account said a second Ankara-based source linked Cairo’s decision to its sensitive relationship with Israel, describing Egypt as a US ally, a neighbour of Israel, and an Arab country with full diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv.

Al Jazeera reported that Egypt is the only country whose potential membership has been publicly raised by an official from one of the pact’s signatory countries, and it quoted Fidan saying, “I believe that at the next stage, Egypt will also be among us in the alliance.”

Al Jazeera also included Chatham House’s Karim Elgendy saying Egypt may join only if “the language protects its aid relationship with Washington,” and it warned that if the pact hardens into an obligation that could pull Egyptian forces into someone else’s war, “the answer is likely to be negative.”