Turkish parliament approves Makkah defence pact with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia

Turkish parliament approves Makkah defence pact with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia

The Turkish parliament on Thursday approved a bill ratifying the Makkah Agreement on Joint Defence with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, paving the way for the trilateral security pact to come into force. Lawmakers endorsed the measure by 279 votes to 119, with 398 of the chamber’s 592 members taking part in the ballot. The measure, formally titled the Bill on the Approval of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement between the Republic of Turkiye, Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, passed after a lengthy debate among parties. During the debate, ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party lawmaker Ziya Altunyaldiz stressed that the agreement aims to expand security cooperation in the region. He emphasised that it contains no approach against any third country and that its main goal is to prevent conflicts rather than escalate them. Opposition speakers raised reservations about the pact’s scope and oversight. Mehmet Guzelmansur of the Republican People’s Party said clear rules are needed so the agreement does not contradict Turkiye’s other international obligations. Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement at a trilateral summit in Makkah on Aug 7, pledging to strengthen collective security, deepen defence cooperation and promote peace and stability in the region and beyond. The pact provides a framework for collective assistance in the event of external armed aggression against any of the three countries, with the nature and extent of assistance to be determined collectively in light of the circumstances. Last month, the Foreign Office in Islamabad said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had completed the ratification of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, as the three participating countries progressed on the implementation of the pact amid escalating tensions over attacks on Saudi Arabia by Yemen’s Ansar Allah movement. “Pakistan and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have already completed their ratification processes, while Turkiye is undertaking the requisite procedures in accordance with its domestic legal framework,” Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan had said at the ministry’s weekly media briefing. The pact moved towards implementation after an Oct 5 meeting of the alliance’s Strategic, Political and Defence Committee in Riyadh called for the immediate implementation of collective defence commitments and the rapid deployment in Saudi Arabia of military forces and capabilities already agreed upon, subject to the national legislation of the parties.