Turkey Sends Military Support to Saudi Arabia as Mecca Defence Pact Is Invoked

Turkey is sending defensive and technical military support to Saudi Arabia to help it fight Yemen's Iran aligned Houthis, two officials said Wednesday, acting on the collective defence commitment of the newly formed Mecca alliance.

Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement in August, under which an armed attack on one member counts as an attack on all. On Monday the three countries agreed to move immediately to implement those commitments and ensure the rapid deployment of military forces and capabilities to the kingdom.

A Turkish official said the support expected from Ankara was only in the form of military equipment, intelligence sharing and weapons systems, adding that no other deployment had taken place under the alliance so far. The support, which officials say includes air defence systems, is largely bilateral for now, because Turkey's parliament has not officially ratified the joint pact. The amount and nature of the support would increase after ratification, they said.

The invocation of the pact marks a turning point in the Gulf war. Pakistan and Turkey had been holding back, preferring to act as diplomatic mediators in the broader regional conflict. But escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi territory, including strikes on two Saudi airports and a ballistic missile intercepted north of Riyadh this week, forced the alliance's hand. On Monday an emergency meeting of the alliance's strategic political and defence committee in Riyadh brought together Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman.

The joint statement after that meeting said the three states would immediately implement their mutual defence commitments, in particular by mobilizing military forces and assets to be rapidly deployed to Saudi Arabia. Prince Khalid said the committee had activated collective deterrence measures within the framework of the alliance in response to the attacks. The three governments also named Pakistani Lieutenant General Nauman Mahmud as the alliance's first secretary general for a three year term.

The pact ties Turkey, which has NATO's second largest army and a robust defence industry, to the Islamic world's only nuclear armed state and to the leading military power in the Gulf. US congressman Joe Wilson said it had the potential to become the NATO of the Middle East. Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif described the role of both countries' armed forces as supportive rather than frontline combat, saying Saudi Arabia remains responsible for active operations against the Houthis.

The alliance was formed in August amid the regional conflict driven by the US Israeli war on Iran, now in its eighth month. Its activation had been delayed while Turkey and Pakistan tried to keep their mediator roles. That balancing act is now over.