President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said he hopes more countries will join the defense agreement signed last week between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The agreement aims to contribute to the stabilization of the conflict-ridden region.
The so-called Mecca Joint Defense Agreement was signed on Friday amid the aftermath of the five-month US-Iran war in the Middle East. The war has drawn regional players into the conflict and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea. “Our vision for this agreement is not limited to three countries,” the Turkish leader told the London-based newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat. “On the contrary, we seek its expansion, and perhaps one day the appropriate conditions will arise for all countries in the region to unite under its aegis.”
Turkey expects Egypt to join
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday to the state agency Anadolu that Turkey expects Egypt to join the pact “at the next stage,” noting that only “a few technical issues” stand in the way. Egypt has not commented on either the agreement or Fidan’s statements, who will visit Cairo on Thursday and Friday.
Although Cairo has close military cooperation with Ankara, it has not expressed an intention to join the new security alliance. The agreement contains provisions similar to NATO, according to which an attack on one participant will be considered an attack on all.
According to Erdogan, the pact emerged in response to “new circumstances” in the Middle East, where regional players seek to take greater responsibility for their own security and stability. “Regional issues should be resolved by regional participants, and with this step, we believe we have taken the first step towards achieving this goal,” he said. “The resolution of regional issues should take place without formulas imposed from the outside. We know well that external solutions bring only catastrophes,” added the Turkish leader.
Alternative security architecture
This agreement brings together three key allies of the United States within an alternative security architecture that rejects the hegemony of Israel. According to Erdogan, the pact will strengthen security cooperation and also create opportunities for “the development of joint projects in the defense industry.”
Since the beginning of the war, Saudi Arabia has drawn closer to Turkey, with which it previously had tense relations. Erdogan stated that Ankara and Riyadh “will take steps that will bring relations between the two countries to a much higher level,” without providing further details.
Source: South China Morning Post
