Turkish Foreign Minister Equates Makkah Pact to NATO Article 5
The Minister said the pact does not name any common threat and that no country is a target so long as it does not attack a member.
MIDDLE EAST — Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on August 8 that the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement signed the previous day by Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Pakistan is technically the same as NATO’s Article 5 collective defense provision.
The agreement, signed on August 7 at Al-Safa Palace in Makkah by Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, stipulates that an armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all.
Fidan, speaking at Anadolu Agency’s Editors’ Desk, said the pact does not name any common threat and that no country is a target so long as it does not attack a member, adding that Iran is not a target of the agreement.
A committee of ministers similar to NATO’s, along with a general secretariat based in Saudi Arabia, will be formed, with operational details set at the first committee meeting. Fidan added that Egypt may join once certain technical matters are resolved, consistent with President Erdoğan’s vision of expansion beyond the three signatories.
The joint statement issued by the three governments after the Makkah Al-Mukarramah Summit for Joint Defence described the agreement as one that strengthens collective deterrence against any act of aggression and enhances all aspects of defense cooperation among the three states.
It noted the agreement builds on longstanding historical ties, Islamic solidarity, shared strategic interests, and prior defense cooperation.
Turkish officials have said the arrangement complements existing alliances, including Türkiye’s NATO membership, and does not replace them.
Saudi statements have similarly described the pact as focused on building sustainable capabilities rather than establishing a military axis or sectarian bloc.
