Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan Sign Joint Defense Pact

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman shake hands during a welcome ceremony in Ankara, Turkey, on Wednesday, June 22, 2022.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan on Friday signed a defence agreement under which an armed attack on any one of the three countries would be considered an attack on all three, officials said.

The “Mecca Joint Defense Agreement” was signed in Mecca during a meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The agreement brings together three Sunni Muslim-majority countries—oil-rich Saudi Arabia, nuclear-armed Pakistan and Turkey, which has NATO's second-largest army and a rapidly expanding defence industry.

The pact is expected to deepen military cooperation and strengthen deterrence amid growing regional uncertainty and security threats linked to the war in Iran.

Turkish media reported that the agreement could facilitate joint military exercises, training, technology transfers and intelligence sharing.

A Turkish official described the pact as "purely defensive", saying it does not target any specific country and could be joined by other regional states.

The agreement does not replace existing bilateral or multilateral defence arrangements, the official said.

Defence analyst Abdullah Khan described the pact as a formalisation of decades of strategic ties, bringing together Pakistan's military expertise, Saudi Arabia's economic and regional influence, and Turkey's defence technology.

Sharif arrived in Saudi Arabia on Thursday for a three-day visit with a delegation that included Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir. Erdogan arrived on Friday.

The leaders were also expected to discuss efforts to ease US-Iran tensions, as well as trade, economic ties and broader regional security cooperation.