On August 7, in Mecca, the handshake of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mohammed bin Salman, and Shehbaz Sharif, was much more than the signing of a document. It was the establishment of a concept that regional analysts have deliberated on, since October 2023, a non-ideological, joint hard power, Sunni-majority axis. The defense pact incorporates Pakistani deterrent defense, Turkish defense industry capabilities, and Saudi financial power.

All three countries are obligated through the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement to consider an attack on one country an attack on all countries. This is similar to NATO’s Article 5; however, analysts do not compare the two. Aljazeera quoted Ozgur Unluhisarcikli of the German Marshall Fund, who stated that it is not a rigid mutual-defense treaty; instead, it is a framework to deepen military-strategic-defense industrial cooperation among three regional countries. While the differences of the two pacts do matter, they do not decrease the importance of this agreement, which was built outside of Washington: the most important realignment in the Middle Eastern security structure since the Abraham Accords.

The question is why the defence pact is signed now? Since the US and Israel intensified their attacks on Iran on February 28, Gulf oil exporters absorbed missile and drone attacks, and the Strait of Hormuz turned into a live choke point. Saudi Arabia, with US bases on its territory, absorbed the bulk of the attacks. Both the Houthis in Yemen and Iranian aligned Iraqi militias focused on the Saudi Arabia. In addition to porous US security guarantees, the US kept its troops and hardware in the region. Saudi Arabia’s experience, coupled with the visible security in US power, led the Kingdom to strike a balance.

In contrast, both Pakistan and Turkiye have not been subjected to direct attacks. However, both have been alarmed by Israel’s expansion of its military to cover a fifth of Lebanese territory,........

© The Friday Times