Turkiye, Qatar sign mutual defence agreement, Turkish presidency says

ISTANBUL: Turkiye and Qatar signed a mutual defence agreement on Friday, the office of President Tayyip Erdogan said, as the Turkish leader met the Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin ‌Hamad al-Thani in Istanbul.

“President Erdogan stated that we would continue working together to prevent the resurgence of war in the Gulf region and establish a basis for dialogue and achieve peace,” the presidency said in a statement on X, which did not provide details on the defence accord.

The statement cited him as saying that Turkiye and Qatar were working to develop and diversify their energy partnership, and that their cooperation in the defence industry would continue to grow.

“President Erdogan stated that the Mutual Defence Agreement signed today by Turkiye and Qatar would add another dimension to our brotherhood,” it added.

In August, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a joint defence agreement in Makkah, bringing together the Muslim US allies at a time of conflict across the region.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed the “Makkah Joint Defence Agreement”, aimed at strengthening collective security, enhancing defence cooperation and promoting peace and stability across the region, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said at that time.

Turkey’s parliament ratified the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement last week, clearing the way for Ankara to send military support to Saudi Arabia, which has been struggling to fend off attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militants.

Under the agreement, signed by the three regional powers in August, an attack on one party constitutes an attack on all.

A Turkish ruling party lawmaker told Reuters last month that Ankara also planned to seek parliamentary authorisation for the deployment of military personnel to Saudi Arabia under the agreement.