Top officials from the countries party to the historic Mecca Joint Defense Agreement convened in Istanbul on Monday on the occasion of the first meeting of the Strategic, Political and Defense Committee established to advance the deal.
Speaking after the meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said they decided to name the alliance as Mecca Defense Alliance. He said the first secretary-general of the alliance would be a Pakistani official and the secretariat's offices will be based in Riyadh of Saudi Arabia.
Fidan stated that the alliance will seek establishing a security architecture. In response to questions, he said they were open to expansion, underlining that its main purpose was to include more countries. He said that the alliance would reduce uncertainty, instability in the region and they hoped that it would be key to peace. In response to a question, Fidan slammed the Israeli administration, singling out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "This murderer should be stopped. He is the common enemy of the humanity," he said.
The committee is expected to provide strategic direction to activities to be carried out under the agreement and comprises the foreign and defense ministers and chiefs of general staff of Türkiye, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia.
