Turkiye moves to ratify Mecca defence pact with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia

Trilateral deal between Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan lays out provisions for joint defence. Save Share The trilateral defence pact between Turkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, also known as the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, has been submitted to the Turkish parliament for ratification. The pact, signed on August 7, contains 16 articles, according to the document submitted to the Turkish parliament, seen by the Reuters news agency. It aims to create a joint defence architecture in the region, in the case of an armed attack on any member, and lays out provisions in each article accordingly. In Article 1 of the accord, for example, the signatories shall use “all necessary means” to eliminate threats to one another’s territorial integrity. Once the first article is invoked, in case of an attack on any member state, the document lays out provisions for what follows next, as outlined in Article 2 of the draft seen by Reuters. “In the event one of the parties is subjected to an armed attack or military aggression by another country or group of countries, the parties shall immediately provide assistance to the party under attack, utilising the full range ‌of mutual assistance measures available to them,” says Article 2. This point is similar to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, NATO’s founding document, which treats an armed attack on one member as an attack on all. Article 2 goes on to say that each signatory – Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye – “will decide on the scope and nature of the support to be provided following an objective assessment of the assistance required”, adding that the three countries will cooperate within their available resources, including military capabilities and resources. Earlier this month, Turkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabiaagreed to activate “deterrence measures”under the mutual defence pact and rapidly deploy forces to the Gulf kingdom to counter attacks by Yemen’s Houthis – an armed group also known as Ansar Allah (Arabic for Supporters of God). Articles 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the draft agreement, submitted to the Turkish parliament, also lay out details on defence industry cooperation, intelligence sharing, logistical support and joint training and the fight against “all means of terrorism”, including at the operational level. Other provisions talk about joint research, development and innovation projects in the field of advanced technology and ensuring military readiness....