Turkey will host the first ministerial defense meeting of the Mecca agreement in Istanbul on Monday, convening foreign ministers, defense ministers and military chiefs from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, officials from Ankara and Islamabad announced on Sunday.
The inaugural gathering will establish a Strategic Policy and Defense Committee comprising the foreign ministers, defense ministers and chiefs of general staff from all three nations. Turkish Foreign Ministry sources said the body will set strategic directions for joint military and security activities.
Tripartite military pact
The trilateral defense pact was signed on August 7 in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The accord formally links three major Sunni powers across Europe, the Middle East and South Asia.
The alliance combines NATO's second largest military force in Turkey with the largest military power in the Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia, and the only nuclear-armed nation in the Muslim world, Pakistan. Turkey has been a member of NATO since 1952, maintaining the alliance's largest standing armed forces after the United States.
Monday's meeting in Istanbul, Turkey's commercial hub on the Bosphorus, will be chaired by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yasar Guler and General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, the chief of the Turkish armed forces.
Delegations and key agenda
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry confirmed that Islamabad will be represented by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Federal Minister for Defense Muhammad Asif and Army Chief Asim Munir. According to Turkish sources, Saudi Arabia is delegating Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, its defense minister and the chief of its general staff.
Delegates intend to address international security issues, the strengthening of defense capabilities, the interoperability of their armed forces and cooperation within the defense industry, according to officials in Ankara. Turkey has expanded its domestic defense production sector significantly, becoming a prominent global exporter of military equipment.
Turkish officials also reminded member states of the core collective defense clause contained within the landmark pact. Under the terms of the treaty, Ankara stated that an attack committed against any member state will be considered an attack against all parties to the agreement.
