Türkiye has completed preparations to send the Mecca Agreement for Joint Defence to parliament for ratification, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Thursday, October 8.
Speaking at a joint news conference in Ankara with Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Anita Orbán, Fidan said he had briefed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the matter the previous day.
A mutual defence commitment
Fidan described the agreement as providing for mutual defence in the event that one of the signatories comes under attack. "This is not an attack agreement," he said, adding that it does not give Türkiye authority to send troops into another country's territory to carry out attacks.
Under Türkiye's constitution, the deployment of Turkish armed forces abroad requires authorisation from the Grand National Assembly, and international agreements of this kind must be approved by parliament before taking effect.
Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia
The move comes amid a series of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. On October 5, the pact's Strategic Political and Defence Committee held an extraordinary meeting in Riyadh, in which Türkiye took part largely because of those attacks. According to Fidan, the meeting also addressed the structure of the military headquarters, the status of the secretariat and the appointment of a new secretary.
Fidan said participants discussed possible Turkish contributions to Saudi Arabia's defence against Houthi strikes. He noted that Yemen's internationally recognised government forces, backed by Riyadh, are continuing their fight, while Türkiye is also pursuing a track of peace and dialogue.
Turkish Defence Ministry spokesperson Zeki Aktürk said at a separate briefing the same day that the necessary measures for providing and deploying forces to Saudi Arabia had been discussed at the Riyadh meeting, and that any Turkish military contribution would be in line with the constitution and relevant legislation.
Ankara has also condemned the Houthi attacks on Saudi territory. Türkiye joined Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in a joint condemnation of what they called hostile attacks, and President Erdoğan strongly condemned a deadly Houthi strike on an airport in the Saudi capital.
Türkiye and Saudi Arabia have significantly improved relations in recent years after a period of tension, with growing cooperation in trade and defence.
Sources
- Türkiye completes preparations to submit Mecca defense pact to parliament: Foreign minister
- Türkiye, France sign roadmap to deepen defense, security cooperation
Photo: Υπουργείο Εξωτερικών / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
