Turkey prepares parliamentary vote on Mecca defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan

Turkey’s parliament is set to consider the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement that would bind Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in a mutual‑defence arrangement. The draft was forwarded by the foreign ministry and will be presented to the foreign affairs commission by Speaker Numan Kurtulmus after his return from Kyrgyzstan. Opposition parties have called for scrutiny of the agreement before it is enacted. The pact stipulates that an attack on any signatory is treated as an attack on all, a provision highlighted after recent Houthi strikes on Saudi territory.