Türkiye has expressed its readiness to support Saudi Arabia amid escalating attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said.
Speaking to Turkish broadcaster NTV on Friday, Fidan said Saudi Arabia could have military needs arising from the ongoing attacks and that Türkiye would consider how to assist the kingdom under the trilateral defence agreement between Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan.
Fidan also said it was unacceptable for Saudi Arabia to be drawn into the wider US-Iran war, stressing that Riyadh had no intention of joining the conflict.
He said proposals had been communicated to the parties involved in an effort to end the fighting, although he did not provide further details.
The Iran-aligned Houthis and Saudi Arabia have continued exchanging attacks in Yemen, as the Houthis have expanded their control over parts of the Red Sea coast, including areas around the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
Pakistan has also pledged to defend Saudi Arabia under the same defence agreement. A Pakistani military spokesperson recently said Islamabad would defend the kingdom “to any extent”, including physically, although it remains unclear whether Riyadh has requested additional Pakistani troops.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office has said no military response under the agreement is currently being discussed, but added that Islamabad would act if the situation requires it.
The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement was signed on August 7 in Mecca by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The three countries formally named the arrangement the Mecca Defence Alliance on August 31, following a meeting in Istanbul where officials agreed to establish a secretariat in Riyadh.
The agreement's central principle is that an armed attack against any one of the three countries would be treated as an attack against all three.
However, analysts have questioned the alliance's current military capacity, noting that it does not yet have the integrated command structure or standing forces associated with alliances such as NATO. How its mutual-defence provision would be activated also remains unclear.
The agreement comes as Gulf countries face growing concerns about being drawn further into the wider US-Iran conflict, which has continued for more than six months since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran in February.
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