Turkey says Mecca defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan does not target Iran
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Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the recently signed Mecca Joint Defence Agreement between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is not directed against Iran and is intended as a defensive alliance.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency on Saturday, Fidan said Saudi Arabia did not have a strategy to attack or eliminate Iran and instead wanted an end to violence around the Strait of Hormuz. He said Riyadh had told the United States that military intervention against Iran would not resolve the situation and that dialogue and an agreement were preferable.
Fidan said the agreement does not identify any country as a common threat. He rejected suggestions that Iran was the target, saying the alliance would not have a dispute with any country unless its members were attacked.
The three countries signed the agreement in Mecca on Friday amid escalating tensions across West Asia. The pact states that an armed attack against any one of the three countries would be regarded as an attack against all three. It also seeks to strengthen defence cooperation and collective deterrence.
Fidan compared the arrangement's collective defence principle with NATO's Article 5, under which an armed attack against one member is treated as an attack against all. He said Turkey's experience as a NATO member since 1952 could provide a reference for the alliance's deterrence and institutional practices.
According to Fidan, a country facing an attack would request assistance and determine the support it required. This could include intelligence, logistics, ammunition or military units, depending on the scale of the threat.
He said the alliance would have political and military committees comprising foreign and defence ministers and chiefs of general staff, while a secretariat would oversee implementation.
Fidan said Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan were not expansionist countries and that the agreement was focused on their security, development and regional stability.
He also said the alliance could eventually expand beyond its three founding members, with the possibility of bringing other countries under the arrangement.
Fidan said the agreement had been examined from legal, political and strategic perspectives and described it as a step towards greater stability in the region.