Turkey says it may aid Saudi Arabia under new Mecca defence pact amid Houthi strikes

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told NTV that Saudi Arabia may have unmet defence needs as Houthi rebels intensify attacks along the Red Sea coast, and that Turkey will evaluate how to help under the recently signed Mecca Joint Defence Agreement. He warned that dragging Riyadh into the ongoing US-Iran confrontation would be unacceptable and that Saudi Arabia has no desire to join that war. The trilateral pact, signed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, creates the Mecca Defence Alliance, which pledges collective defence but lacks a clear command structure.

Pakistan’s military spokesperson Lieutenant-General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry reiterated Islamabad’s willingness to defend Saudi Arabia, though no deployment has been confirmed. Analysts question the pact’s substance, noting the absence of integrated forces and unclear trigger mechanisms. The agreement was forged as Gulf states grow wary of being pulled into the wider US-Iran conflict that has persisted for months.