RIYADH, 05 Oct. - (ANA)- Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are set to hold high-level defence talks in Riyadh on Monday as Ankara signals its readiness to support the kingdom against continued Houthi attacks under the countries' newly signed joint defence pact.

 

Foreign and defence ministers and military chiefs from the three countries will attend a meeting of the Political and Defence Strategic Committee established under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, signed on 7 August.

 

The talks come as Turkey steps up its engagement with Saudi Arabia amid growing questions over what military support Ankara could provide Riyadh, including expanding defence industry, intelligence cooperation and expertise in drone warfare.

 

Turkey's foreign ministry said Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defence Minister Yasar Guler and Chief of the General Staff Selcuk Bayraktaroglu would attend the meeting.

 

Fidan is expected to outline Turkey's position on consolidating the alliance and its next steps, as well as assess threats to peace and stability in the region and discuss developments impacting the three countries' shared security.

 

According to the ministry, Fidan will stress the importance of the alliance in providing a combined and effective response to threats and preventing regional crises.

 

He is also expected to reaffirm Turkey's "strong support" and solidarity with Saudi Arabia in the face of Houthi attacks and stress that attacks targeting holy sites, including Mecca, are unacceptable.

 

Ankara is also expected to emphasise the importance of securing international trade routes and resolving regional conflicts through peaceful means.

 

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday that Iran had proposed political engagement with the Houthis, an initiative expected to be discussed at the emergency Riyadh meeting.

 

Dar said Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan would determine their next steps during the talks.

 

The alliance is also expected to establish its secretariat in Riyadh, with Pakistan nominating retired Lieutenant General Nauman Mahmood as its first secretary-general.

 

 

 

 

The Political and Defence Strategic Committee, comprising the three countries' foreign and defence ministers and chiefs of staff, is responsible for directing activities under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement.

 

It held its first meeting in Istanbul on 31 August, when officials discussed the technical work required to institutionalise the alliance.

 

The countries' foreign ministers also met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, where they discussed regional developments and issued a statement condemning attacks on Mecca, which the Houthis denied carrying out, as well as attacks on Saudi civilian and economic infrastructure.

 

The military chiefs of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan subsequently met in Riyadh on 25 September.

 

Saudi Arabia's defence ministry said the commanders reviewed threats facing the kingdom and discussed strengthening military cooperation, intelligence sharing and coordination between their armed forces.

 

They also agreed to begin translating commitments under the Mecca pact into "effective military cooperation".

 

Fidan later said regional developments and military threats facing Saudi Arabia from both the north and south had been discussed.

 

He said Turkey's chief of staff had briefed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following the technical military talks in Riyadh, adding that the Turkish armed forces possessed the capabilities and expertise required to respond to threats.

 

Erdogan has stressed that the pact should not be viewed as an alliance directed against Iran, Israel or any other country.

 

In an interview with Newsweek, he said the agreement was based on Article 51 of the UN Charter, which recognises the right to self-defence. Under the agreement, an armed attack against one of the three countries is considered an attack against all parties.

 

Erdogan said the response would depend on the requirements of the country under attack and could range from intelligence, logistical and ammunition support to broader military assistance.

 

 

 

 

Attention has increasingly turned to what Turkish support for Saudi Arabia could look like in practice.

 

Fidan said on 20 September that Ankara would consider Riyadh's military requirements as it confronted continuing attacks, while stressing that Saudi Arabia should not be drawn into the conflict between the United States and Iran.

 

Turkey's growing defence industry could become a central component of that support.

 

Ankara has developed significant capabilities in drones, missiles, smart munitions and artillery, while its armed forces have accumulated experience in conflicts involving armed groups and irregular forces.

 

Turkey provided extensive military support to Azerbaijan during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war and intervened in support of Libya's internationally recognised government in 2019, where Turkish drones helped shift the military balance.

 

It has also conducted repeated military operations in northern Syria and Iraq and exported drones to countries including Ukraine and Ethiopia.

 

Those capabilities have prompted speculation that Ankara could provide Saudi Arabia with military advice, intelligence support and advanced weapons without becoming directly involved in fighting.

 

Ufuk Necat Tasci, a professor of international relations at Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, told The New Arab that Fidan's comments signalled that Ankara was positioning itself firmly alongside Riyadh.

 

"Politically, this statement indicates that Turkey will enter the equation in favour of Saudi Arabia. Time will reveal whether this intervention will be direct or indirect," he said. "Nevertheless, Turkey does not want to remain neutral towards the attacks on Saudi Arabia during this period, because this alliance, as is clear, has raised concerns in both Israel and Iran."

 

 

 

 

Merve Suna Ozel Ozcan, an international relations academic at Kirikkale University, cautioned against interpreting Turkey's position as signalling direct military intervention.

 

"Fidan's statement should be interpreted from the perspective of solidarity, not war or aggression," she told TNA.

 

She noted that defence industry cooperation was among the clearest areas in which Ankara could assist Riyadh, particularly through drone technology.

 

Turkey and Saudi Arabia already have an agreement involving the Bayraktar Akinci combat drone, with Turkish defence company Baykar and Saudi military industries pursuing local production and technology transfer.

 

Ozcan said the nature of Houthi warfare meant Saudi Arabia required more than additional advanced air defence systems such as the Patriot and THAAD.

 

Riyadh also needed additional defensive layers, she said, particularly cheaper systems capable of countering large-scale drone attacks.

 

Such cooperation could offer the clearest indication yet of how the Mecca agreement will move from a political commitment to a functioning defence alliance, as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan seek to define how collective defence will work in practice. - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/05 October 2026 - - -