Turkey’s parliament on Thursday approved a bill ratifying the Mecca Agreement on Joint Defense between Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia by 279 votes to 119, with 398 of 592 members taking part.
The three countries signed the pact at a trilateral summit in Mecca on 7 August, pledging stronger collective security, deeper defence cooperation and regional stability. During the debate, ruling AK Party lawmaker Ziya Altunyaldiz said the agreement aims to expand security cooperation and prevent conflicts rather than escalate them, and contains no approach against any third country.
Opposition speakers raised concerns about scope and oversight. According to reporting on the treaty’s terms, members pledge assistance if another is under armed attack, and the pact provides for joint exercises, defence-technology work and intelligence sharing; any Turkish troop deployment would still require separate parliamentary authorisation.