Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday that his government was preparing to submit a defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to parliament for approval in the coming days as Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia intensify, the ANKA news agency reported.
Speaking after a Cabinet meeting in Ankara, Erdoğan said preparations were continuing to send the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement to lawmakers and establish a permanent structure for cooperation among its members.
“Efforts are underway to submit the agreement to our parliament in the coming days to complete the domestic approval process,” Erdoğan said.
The three countries signed the pact on August 7, pledging to treat an armed attack on one member as an attack on all.
On Tuesday Erdoğan’s nationalist ally, Devlet Bahçeli, called for Turkey to provide all possible military assistance for Saudi Arabia’s defense under the agreement.
Bahçeli, leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), told his party’s parliamentary group that Turkey could not remain indifferent to attacks on Saudi Arabia and Islam’s holy sites.
He called for deterrent force if diplomacy proved insufficient.
The debate comes after repeated Houthi strikes on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport. An October 10 missile attack killed 13 people and injured 309. The airport was struck again Sunday, when a projectile hit a passenger terminal.
Erdoğan condemned the October 10 attack and said Turkey stood with Saudi Arabia. He also said activities under the defense agreement would comply with Turkish law, as with NATO.
He reiterated Turkey’s support for resolving regional disputes through dialogue and diplomacy and for respecting countries’ sovereignty and territorial integrity.
At an emergency meeting in Riyadh on October 5, the three countries agreed to implement their collective defense commitments and arrange the rapid deployment of military forces and equipment to Saudi Arabia, subject to their respective laws. Their joint statement gave no troop numbers, deployment dates or breakdown of each country’s contribution.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said last week that Turkey would not send troops abroad to launch attacks under the pact. Officials were assessing possible contributions to Saudi Arabia’s air defenses, he said.
Reuters reported October 7, citing a Turkish official and a US official briefed on the matter, that Turkey was already providing mainly defensive and technical assistance to Saudi Arabia.
Opposition politicians have warned that the commitments could draw Turkey into Yemen’s war and criticized the government for pledging military support before securing parliamentary approval.
Özgür Özel, leader of the main opposition New Party, rejected the prospect of sending Turkish troops to Yemen and accused ministers of making commitments before lawmakers had considered the agreement.
Article 90 of Turkey’s constitution generally requires parliament to pass a law approving treaty ratification. Article 92 gives parliament the power to authorize overseas military deployments, with exceptions including those required by international treaties.
The Iran-backed Houthis seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year to support the internationally recognized government. Renewed fighting has been accompanied by Houthi missile and drone attacks on Saudi cities and infrastructure.
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