Syria weighing whether to enter Makkah pact, says foreign minister

Syria’s top diplomat on Saturday has said Damascus was considering whether to join the Makkah defence alliance that binds Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

Saudi Arabia, under heavy fire from Yemen’s Houthis, is a key backer of Syria’s government that came to power after the fall of former strongman Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

“Discussions are currently underway to evaluate Syria’s entry into the Makkah alliance,” Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said at the Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia has been rallying support against escalating Houthi attacks, including a major strike that closed Riyadh’s international airport for two weeks this month.

In August, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye signed the defence pact in Makkah, that states an attack on one country is to be considered an attack on all three.

Pakistan and Turkiye have not announced any attacks on the Houthis.

Earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron made a surprise visit to Riyadh and said France had sent troops to help shield a key Saudi oil terminal from Houthi attacks. Also in October, the UK government announced it would deploy British fighter planes to help Saudi Arabia against the attacks.

Makkah Joint Defence Agreement (MJDA)

The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement was signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye on August 7, 2026, at Al-Safa Palace in Makkah during a summit attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman. The accord, announced by Pakistan’s Foreign Office, aims to strengthen collective security, expand defence cooperation and promote regional stability.

A central provision of the agreement states that an armed attack against any one of the three signatories will be treated as an attack against all three, committing them to collective deterrence against aggression. It also provides for broader cooperation across defence sectors, building on the countries’ longstanding military ties and shared security interests.

The pact followed nearly a year of negotiations and was signed amid heightened instability in the Middle East, particularly following the conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel. The three countries have increasingly sought closer coordination in response to changing regional security challenges.

The agreement builds on decades of military cooperation. Pakistan has provided Saudi Arabia with military training and technical assistance, while Islamabad and Ankara have expanded collaboration in naval, aerospace and defence industries. Saudi Arabia has also strengthened its defence partnership with Türkiye, including through a major procurement agreement for Turkish armed drones in 2023.

The three signatories bring substantial military and strategic capabilities to the arrangement. Türkiye is a major NATO military power, Saudi Arabia is a leading Arab military and economic force, and Pakistan is the only nuclear-armed country in the Muslim world.

The agreement has been presented by the three governments as a framework for closer security coordination, collective deterrence and wider defence collaboration, rather than a replacement for their existing bilateral partnerships.