Mecca Defense Pact: Turkey Hosts the Three Signatories in Istanbul

13:01

Just over three weeks after the signing of the defense agreement in Mecca, Turkey will host the first ministerial meeting bringing together the three signatory countries in Istanbul on Monday. Ankara, Riyadh, and Islamabad are expected to define the mechanisms that will give concrete meaning to their new strategic cooperation.

Security cooperation between Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan is reaching a new stage. Istanbul will host the first meeting involving the foreign and defense ministers of the three countries since the conclusion of the Mecca defense pact on August 7.

The meeting aims to allow the three partners to move from the political signing of the agreement to the establishment of its first operational structures.

A New Framework for Strategic Cooperation

The agreement was signed in Mecca in the presence of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

This alliance brings together three powers with complementary military and strategic profiles. Turkey has one of the main armed forces in NATO, Saudi Arabia plays a central role in the security balance of the Gulf, while Pakistan is the only nuclear power in the Muslim world.

The creation of this new defense framework thus adds a particular dimension to the rapprochement between the three capitals.

A Strategic Committee at the Heart of the Meeting

The Istanbul meeting is expected to lead to the establishment of a Political and Defense Strategic Committee. This committee will bring together the foreign and defense ministers of the three countries as well as their chiefs of staff.

The goal is to have a permanent structure capable of setting the main directions for cooperation and coordinating actions decided within the framework of the pact.

This first ministerial meeting will therefore focus on defining the priorities and operational modalities of this new security architecture.

Ankara, a Central Actor in the New Framework

Choosing Istanbul for this first meeting also underscores the role that Turkey intends to play in this cooperation. As a NATO member and a major military power, Ankara also maintains close relations with Gulf countries and Pakistan.

For Riyadh and Islamabad, the rapprochement with Ankara also allows them to expand their strategic cooperation beyond their traditional bilateral frameworks.

Thus, Monday's meeting will serve as a first test to assess the ability of the three signatories to transform their Mecca agreement into a sustainable cooperation framework, as the security balances in the Middle East and its neighborhood remain particularly sensitive.