The Media Line: Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani Officials Launch First Session Under Mecca Defense Pact   

Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani Officials Launch First Session Under Mecca Defense Pact   

By The Media Line Staff  

Senior defense and foreign policy officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan gathered in Istanbul on Monday for the inaugural meeting of the Strategic Political and Defense Committee, the body created to steer implementation of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement the three countries signed on Aug. 7.    

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman led the kingdom’s delegation, joined by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Chief of General Staff Gen. Fayyad al-Ruwaili. Pakistan sent Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Field Marshal Asim Munir and Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, while Turkey’s team included Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yasar Guler and General Staff Chief Selcuk Bayraktaroglu. Talks took place behind closed doors at Istanbul’s Ciragan Palace.   

The three-way pact commits each signatory to treat an attack on one member as an attack on all, a clause often likened to NATO’s Article 5, though analysts note it currently lacks a standing force or integrated command structure. Speaking afterward, Prince Khalid framed the session as a step toward putting the pact’s machinery into motion, pointing to gains in integration and regional stability.   

Fidan announced that the pact now has a formal name, the Mecca Defense Alliance, and confirmed a secretariat has been established in Riyadh, with its first secretary-general to come from Pakistan. He added the alliance was built on respect for sovereignty and non-interference and remains open to other regional states joining.   

The meeting’s agenda covered military interoperability, joint exercises, defense-industrial cooperation, and counterterrorism coordination. The session took place hours after the United States and Iran exchanged strikes for the first time in a month, highlighting the volatile regional backdrop against which the alliance is taking shape. Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Bangladesh have all been floated as possible future members, though officials say expansion will take time.   

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