The first meeting of a committee set up specifically for the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement will be held in Istanbul on Monday.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and Chief of General Staff Gen. Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu will host their Pakistani and Saudi counterparts for the meeting.
The Strategic Political and Defense Committee, as it was called by Turkish diplomatic sources, will discuss international security issues, sources said on Sunday.
“The participants will also discuss such issues as developing defense capabilities, promoting greater interoperability among the armed forces of the three countries, deepening cooperation in the defense industry, including joint production and research and development, and strengthening joint efforts in the fight against terrorism,” sources said.
The agreement, signed in the birthplace of Islam in Saudi Arabia on Aug. 7, expands the Saudi Arabia-Pakistan alliance to include Türkiye, and the parties to the agreement hope other countries, especially Muslim-majority ones, will join the alliance in the future. Although it comes amid the U.S.-Iran war, which has also affected regional countries, and Israel’s relentless expansionist campaign spanning Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, the agreement does not target any country specifically and merely aims to serve as a deterrent to any power threatening them, according to proponents of the pact.
