Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan Forge New Defense Pact with Joint Military Mechanisms

Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are set to establish new political and military mechanisms to closely coordinate their defence and security policies. This initiative follows the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement signed on August 7, as announced by Turkey’s Defence Ministry on Thursday amid growing military and defence industry collaboration among the three Sunni Muslim US allies.

The accord dictates that any armed assault against a single member nation will be treated as an attack on all three, mirroring Nato's Article 5 collective defence clause. Speaking at a weekly briefing in Ankara, the Defence Ministry outlined that these frameworks will unite the nations' foreign ministers, defence ministers, and military chiefs for high-level coordination.

Furthermore, the pact outlines a phased expansion of joint military exercises. These will start with command-post and field drills before advancing to operations involving land, sea, air, air defence, and unmanned systems. The agreement is designed to boost the collective crisis-response capabilities and operational readiness of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

“The aim is to provide not only product and system supply, but also joint development and production, technology co-operation, and sustainable maintenance and logistics support,” the ministry stated. Priority areas will include unmanned and autonomous systems, electronic warfare, and AI capabilities.

Describing the Makkah agreement as strictly defensive, the ministry emphasized that it does not target any specific country as an adversary. Officials also clarified that the pact is not a rival or alternative to Nato, but rather a complementary contribution to regional stability and security.

Turkey maintains the second-largest army within Nato and has previously indicated that the agreement—forged alongside nuclear-armed Pakistan and top oil exporter Saudi Arabia—could potentially expand to include Egypt. The signing takes place as the Middle East grapples with the Iran war, which has triggered Iranian missile strikes on Gulf states and heightened regional security anxieties. Compounding these threats, Saudi Arabia has encountered attacks from Yemen's Houthi rebels and Iran-backed militias in Iraq, while Pakistan has actively mediated between the US and Iran to secure a comprehensive peace accord and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, though diplomatic headway remains limited.