Turkey says Saudi-Pakistan defence pact could broaden to Muslim world

ANKARA: The recently signed Makkah Joint Defence Agreement (MJDA) involving Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan could eventually be expanded to include other Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, Turkish parliament speaker Numan Kurtulmus said on Friday.

The three countries signed the MJDA in August, establishing a collective security arrangement under which an armed attack against one signatory would be treated as an attack against all three. Pakistan on Wednesday announced the appointment Lt-Gen (retd) Nauman Mahmood as the first secretary general of the MJDA.

Kurtulmus said the agreement still requires parliamentary approval before it can formally take effect. He said preparatory meetings between the participating countries were currently focused on determining the framework of the pact and addressing Saudi Arabia’s security requirements.

“For international agreements to take effect, they require parliamentary approval,” Kurtulmus told reporters in Ankara.

He said he expected the agreement to be brought before Turkey’s parliament after lawmakers return from their recess in October, with the ratification process potentially beginning next month.

Kurtulmus also suggested that the arrangement could eventually evolve into a wider security framework involving the broader Muslim world, potentially including Iran.

The agreement was signed as regional tensions were escalating, with the three signatories holding discussions to establish the operational parameters of the defence pact and assess the security needs of Saudi Arabia.

Asked whether the pact was against Iran, Kurtulmus repeated Turkey’s position that the agreement did not target any specific country but was primarily aimed at ensuring the security of states in the region amid conflicts and Israel’s “hostile policies”, adding that Tehran could potentially join the pact too.

“We never see the Makkah Agreement as a pact against Iran, it must not be that way. In fact, we hope the Makkah Agreement can turn into a broader agreement for the Muslim world. Iran can join this agreement too, we hope it will become much stronger with the participation of other regional countries,” he said.

Ankara has previously said it could help meet Riyadh’s military needs, especially on technical issues, but officials have said any support at this stage would be largely bilateral and in the spirit of their alliance, since the joint agreement has yet to be ratified.

The military chiefs of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan are set to meet to discuss ways of supporting Riyadh.