Turkey opens Mecca defence pact door to Egypt

Turkey has signalled that Egypt could join the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, widening a new security arrangement with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan that carries a collective-defence commitment resembling NATO’s Article 5.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wanted the three-country alliance to expand and identified Egypt as a potential participant once outstanding technical issues were resolved. His comments have shifted attention towards Cairo after Egypt took part in months of consultations with Ankara, Riyadh and Islamabad but remained outside the agreement signed in Mecca on August 7.

The pact was signed by Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Its central provision states that an armed attack on one of the three countries will be regarded as an attack on them all, creating one of the clearest collective-security mechanisms to emerge among major Middle Eastern and Muslim-majority powers.

Fidan compared that provision technically with NATO’s Article 5, while cautioning against treating the three-member arrangement as equivalent to the 32-member Atlantic alliance. Decisions on the form and scale of assistance following an attack would still be determined through consultations among the members. Operational procedures have yet to be finalised.

The agreement will establish a committee of ministers and a general secretariat based in Saudi Arabia. The first ministerial meeting is expected to address the practical mechanisms governing collective defence and cooperation. Ankara says preparations for the pact took nearly three years.

Egypt’s possible entry would significantly broaden the arrangement. Cairo commands one of the region’s largest armed forces, controls the Suez Canal and occupies a strategic position linking North Africa, the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Middle East. It also maintains extensive security relationships with Gulf states and Western powers.

Egypt has already participated in a four-country consultative mechanism with Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Foreign ministers from the four governments met in Cairo on June 21 to discuss regional security and efforts to contain the conflict involving Iran and the United States. Earlier meetings were held in Riyadh, Islamabad and Antalya.

Cairo did not sign the Mecca agreement, however, and has not publicly committed itself to joining. Egypt’s constitutional arrangements impose additional procedures before troops can be sent on combat missions abroad, including consultation with the National Defence Council and approval by a two-thirds parliamentary majority. Those provisions do not prevent defence agreements but could complicate automatic military commitments.

The alliance is taking shape against escalating security pressures across the Gulf, Red Sea and surrounding waterways. Saudi Arabia has faced threats linked to regional conflicts, while attacks on commercial shipping and energy infrastructure have intensified concerns over the security of trade routes stretching from the Strait of Hormuz to the Bab el-Mandeb.

Turkey and Pakistan have repeatedly stressed that the agreement is defensive and is not directed against Iran or another state. Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the pact remained open to countries prepared to support peaceful dispute resolution and greater strategic cooperation. He also said the agreement was consistent with the right of individual and collective self-defence under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.

The three members bring different strategic assets. Turkey has NATO’s second-largest military and a rapidly expanding defence manufacturing industry. Pakistan provides substantial conventional military capacity and is the only Muslim-majority nuclear-armed state. Saudi Arabia contributes financial resources, geographic reach and growing investment in defence capabilities.

No public text of the agreement promises nuclear protection to members, and officials have not specified whether an attack would automatically trigger troop deployments. The arrangement also leaves existing bilateral and multilateral commitments intact, including Turkey’s NATO obligations and longstanding security partnerships maintained by Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.