Turkey's parliament ratifies Mecca defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, paving the way for a mandate on troop deployment

Turkey’s parliament has ratified the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, paving the way for the government to submit a follow-up mandate that would allow Turkish military personnel to be deployed directly to Saudi Arabia.

The agreement, first signed at a trilateral summit in Mecca on Aug. 7, includes a binding, NATO-style collective defense clause: an armed attack originating outside any member state is to be treated as an attack against all three. The post described the agreement as legally binding NATO’s second-largest military to the pact, amid escalating regional warfare and sustained strikes by Yemen’s Armed Forces.

Under Article 2, the three signatories commit to providing immediate assistance, including military forces and technological resources, to safeguard one another’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.