Erdogan hopes for expansion of defense pact with Saudis, Pakistan, amid bid to woo Egypt
ISTANBUL, Ankara — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday he hoped more countries would join a defense agreement signed last week between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan that they say is aimed at stabilizing a region wracked by conflict.The so-called Mecca Joint Defense Agreement was signed on Friday as the Middle East grapples with fallout from the ongoing US-Iran war, which has dragged in regional players and disrupted shipping through the key energy pathways of the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.“Our vision for it is not limited to the three countries,” the Turkish leader told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat daily. “Rather, we aspire for it to grow, and perhaps appropriate conditions will emerge one day for all countries of the region to gather under its umbrella, he added.He likely did not mean to include Israel in his reference to the region. Turkish-Israel relations, once close, collapsed after…
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Wednesday his hope for an expansion of the recently signed Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, which currently includes Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. The pact, signed last Friday, aims to stabilize the region amid the ongoing US-Iran war and seeks to enable regional actors to take greater responsibility for their own security. Erdogan stated, "Our vision for it is not limited to the three countries. Rather, we aspire for it to grow." Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also expressed expectations for Egypt to join the alliance, despite no official comment from Cairo. The agreement includes a NATO-style clause, treating an attack on one member as an attack on all, and seeks to boost defense industry cooperation, notably excluding Israel.
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