Newsletters
Türkiye's parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee will review the Mecca defense pact on Oct. 27, committee Chairman Fuat Oktay said, and the meeting will be open to the public.
Oktay, an Ankara lawmaker from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), spoke to reporters before meeting Luxembourg’s House of Representatives Speaker Claude Wiseler at parliament on Thursday.
Asked when the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement (MJDA) would come before parliament, Oktay said the bill has been referred to the committee.
"Allah willing, we plan to convene our committee next Tuesday. There we will have the opportunity to evaluate it in all its dimensions in the committee," he stated.
Oktay said the committee will review the agreement with its full framework and dimensions.
"It has been referred to us by the Speaker’s Office," he said.
"We plan to convene our committee next Tuesday. We will have the opportunity to evaluate it with its whole framework and dimensions in our committee. It will be open to the public. We will go to the General Assembly according to the decision in the committee. The Badr Agreement that follows and this agreement are good developments," Oktay added.
The three-article bill, submitted Wednesday under the signature of Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus, seeks approval of the MJDA.
Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the pact in Mecca on Aug. 7, 2026.
If the committee approves the bill, it will go to the General Assembly agenda.
The text submitted to parliament mirrors NATO’s Article 5, treating an externally originating armed attack on one party as an attack on all.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the pact.
The text provides for a Strategic Political and Defense Committee of foreign ministers, defense ministers and chiefs of general staff that would meet twice a year. A secretariat would be based in Saudi Arabia, with a Pakistani citizen as the first secretary-general.
The pact stays in force indefinitely, and a party may withdraw after 10 years with three months' written notice.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
2 min read
1 min read
