Egypt could join Makkah defence pact, Turkish FM says

ANKARA, Türkiye (MNTV) — Egypt could join the defense agreement signed by Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia once outstanding technical arrangements are resolved, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said.

The statement by Turkish FM signals the possibility of the emerging security framework expanding beyond its three founding members.

Fidan said Egypt was already a close partner of the three countries on a range of regional issues and could become part of the alliance at a later stage.

He said several technical matters needed to be settled before Cairo’s membership could be finalized, while noting that other countries had also shown interest in joining the agreement.

The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, signed in Saudi Arabia on Friday, establishes a collective security commitment under which an attack against one member is to be treated as an attack against all three.

Fidan said Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan would remain the founding core responsible for establishing the alliance’s principles, standards and institutional structure, while additional members could join with the approval of the core states.

Fidan said the agreement was comparable in principle to NATO’s Article 5 mutual-defense provision, although its implementation would depend on consultations among the member states.

Assistance could include intelligence, logistics, ammunition or military forces depending on the nature and scale of an attack.

He said the pact was not directed against Iran or any other country and described it as a defensive arrangement intended to strengthen the security of its members.

According to Fidan, the three founding states had different military capabilities and strategic strengths but could combine them within a framework focused on deterrence rather than offensive operations.

The Turkish foreign minister said the alliance would be managed through a political and military committee involving foreign and defense ministers as well as military chiefs.

A permanent secretariat is expected to be established in Saudi Arabia, while the framework will cover joint exercises, interoperability, intelligence sharing, logistics, threat assessments and cooperation in defense industries.

Fidan said regular military exercises would be necessary to ensure that the three countries could operate effectively together, particularly by improving compatibility between weapons, communications and command systems.

He added that common standards and joint assessments would form part of the alliance’s institutional development.

The agreement has received support from several Muslim-majority countries, according to Fidan, while some Western observers have also viewed the initiative positively.

He said the broader objective was to strengthen regional cooperation and enable Middle Eastern and Muslim-majority states to address security challenges through their own constructive partnerships.

Fidan said the founding governments now faced the task of turning the political commitment behind the agreement into a functioning institution.

He described the pact as a major step toward greater regional stability and said its future expansion would depend on establishing effective structures and procedures.