Turkey and Pakistan have agreed to provide "military forces and capabilities" to Saudi Arabia as it comes under attack by the Houthis.
Ministers and military commanders from the three countries gathered in Riyadh on Monday for talks on the Makkah defence pact.
The committee "decided to move immediately to the practical implementation of the collective defense commitments and to take the necessary measures to provide the agreed military forces and capabilities and ensure their rapid deployment in the kingdom," a joint statement said.
It said retired Pakistani Lt Gen Nauman Mahmood had been appointed secretary general of the alliance.
Defence and foreign ministers as well as army chiefs attended the meeting of the Makkah pact’s strategic political and defence committee, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi officials or state media. Pakistan had said its officials would be meeting “counterparts” from the kingdom in its capital.
The talks come as the war between Iran, the US and Israel drags on, and as Iran-backed Houthi rebels continue to launch ballistic missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, including on energy infrastructure.
“The meeting's focus would definitely be Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia,” a Pakistani Foreign Ministry official briefed on the talks told The National.
Monday’s meeting was to discuss “the stage reached in the alliance’s institutionalisation efforts”, the Turkish statement said, following the committee’s inaugural meeting in Istanbul in August.
Pakistan’s participation indicates the country’s resolve “to continue contributing towards regional peace and stability”, the statement from Islamabad said.
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement in August in an attempt to strengthen regional security as conflicts continued across the Middle East.
The kingdom backs the internationally recognised government in Yemen, which is battling the Houthis.
Rashad Al Alimi, head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, on Sunday announced the start of military operations to reclaim territory held by the rebel group, which in the past few weeks has captured the Bab Al Mandeb strait and about 150km of Red Sea coastline, increasing its leverage over a vital international shipping route.
The text of the Makkah pact has not been made public but a joint statement from the three countries at the time of its signing said it was intended to strengthen collective deterrence. Similar to Nato's Article 5 on collective defence, an attack on one country would be considered an attack on all.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan and major oil exporter Saudi Arabia already have a bilateral defence agreement but the three countries together represent a stronger alliance. Nato member Turkey is seeking opportunities for military co-operation as it builds out a burgeoning domestic defence manufacturing industry.
Pakistan has an executive system of government and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's signing of the agreement is sufficient to move it forward. "There is no question of not taking any stakeholders into consultation," a Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson told journalists after the pact was signed in August. Parliament can get involved in troop deployments if legislation is required, but its approval is not a constitutional requirement.
In Turkey, parliament must approve the pact before President Recep Tayyip Erdogan can ratify it. The constitution allows for troop deployment without parliamentary approval if demanded by an international treaty to which Turkey is party.
Ismail Numan Telci, director of the Centre for Gulf Studies and Global Policy at Istanbul's Ibn Haldun University, told The National he was expecting the Turkish parliament to ratify the pact swiftly, after it reopened last Thursday.
The President can also act without parliamentary approval, but his actions “have limits" without it, Mr Telci said. "Whatever Turkey would do now before the ratification, can take place in the formula of defence collaboration. But this would be bilateral support as it can be done without parliament approval.” This could include provision of weapons or technical assistance, he added.
He cited previous examples of Turkey providing military support to allies, including its deployment to Libya and its military presence in Azerbaijan in 2020.
