OMM Redaksiyası
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye agreed at an emergency meeting in Riyadh on Oct. 5 to begin the practical implementation of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement. The parties decided to rapidly deploy agreed military forces and capabilities to Saudi Arabia.
A joint statement issued by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the countries would immediately begin putting their collective defence commitments into practice. The deployment will be carried out in line with approved arrangements and each country’s laws.
The statement did not specify the number of forces or the deployment timeline, and did not name the Houthis.
Who attended the Riyadh meeting
The meeting was hosted by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Chief of the General Staff Gen. Fayyad bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili.
Türkiye was represented by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and Chief of the General Staff Gen. Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu. Pakistan was represented by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, and Chief of Army Staff and Commander of the Defense Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir.
Retired Pakistani Lt. Gen. Nauman Mahmood has been appointed secretary-general of the defence agreement.
Parties condemn attacks and discuss situation in Yemen
The three countries condemned “in the strongest terms” attempts to target Mecca and Medina, as well as attacks on civilian and economic facilities. In September, Saudi Arabia said it had destroyed a Houthi drone before it entered Mecca’s airspace. The Houthis called the claim an “outdated lie.”
Prince Khalid bin Salman wrote on the social media platform X that the committee had agreed to activate collective deterrence measures against those responsible for the attacks.
Hakan Fidan said the meeting had been brought forward because of the situation in Yemen. The parties also discussed a peaceful resolution to the conflict through dialogue, he said.
Yemeni forces backed by Saudi Arabia have launched an offensive aimed at retaking all territory captured by the Houthis during 12 years of war. On Oct. 5, they said they had recaptured much of the coastal area under Houthi control.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei warned on Sunday that a “new intervention” in Yemen would further complicate the situation. The Houthis claimed on Monday that they had launched missile and drone strikes on targets in Saudi Arabia, including King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. Riyadh has not confirmed the claim.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement on Aug. 7. Under the agreement, an attack on any one of the three countries is considered an attack on all of them. The pact followed a Saudi Arabia-Pakistan defence agreement signed in September 2025.
Pakistan’s foreign minister said more than six other countries had expressed interest in joining the agreement. However, membership applications cannot be considered until the pact is fully operational, a process that could take up to a year.
