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Reuters reported that Türkiye is set to deploy military personnel to Saudi Arabia under an agreement to provide joint defense to Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Once the agreement is ratified, the mandate to deploy will be sent to Türkiye's parliament, Reuters reported.
Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement on August 7 under which armed attacks on any of the three countries would be considered attacks on all three of them. The agreement aims to promote closer defense cooperation, share intelligence and conduct joint training, and a Turkish official described it as purely defensive in nature.
Amid Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabian airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea, officials from the three countries met in Riyadh on October 5 and agreed to put their collective defense commitments into action, including the rapid sending of armed forces to Saudi Arabia in accordance with each of the countries’ national laws.
Türkiye’s parliament was submitted the pact in full on October 20 for ratification, according to sources in the Turkish parliament. It is expected to go to the foreign affairs committee and then to a full parliament vote.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the role Türkiye plans to play would be limited to a defensive one, and that Türkiye will not launch attacks against Yemen from bases in Saudi Arabia. Türkiye’s constitution states that sending troops abroad requires the approval of the Turkish parliament.
Türkiye’s contribution is expected to include air defense systems, electronic warfare systems, technical personnel and intelligence, and possibly a limited number of pilots and special forces. In the past, Türkiye already deployed technical personnel to Saudi Arabia within the scope of previous bilateral agreements.
Pakistan is also a full signatory to the agreement and already has armed forces stationed in Saudi Arabia. Iran’s reaction to the three-way security deal, signed in Mecca, has been strongly worded, with one senior Iranian lawmaker saying a paper agreement would not bring the Saudis security.
