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Pakistani minister says talks with Türkiye seperate from defense pact with Saudi Arabia

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif hold a joint press conference after their meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Türkiye on April 22, 2025. (AA Photo)
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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif hold a joint press conference after their meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Türkiye on April 22, 2025. (AA Photo)
January 16, 2026 03:03 PM GMT+03:00

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye have prepared a draft defense agreement after nearly a year of talks, Pakistan's Minister for Defense Production Raza Hayat Harraj told Reuters shortly after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan's remarks confirming Türkiye's effort to build a security platform with some countries in the region.

Despite the Reuters report quoting Fidan as saying Türkiye intends to build a defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, Fidan has only mentioned a security platform with regional countries to increase trust and defense relations during a long press conference in Istanbul on Jan. 16.

Fidan said that Türkiye has proposed the creation of a regional cooperation platform focused on security, stressing that such an initiative would not be directed outward but would instead involve regional countries committing to each other’s security.

Talks with Türkiye are different from defense pact with Saudis

Raza Hayat Harraj told Reuters the potential deal between the three regional powers was separate from a bilateral Saudi-Pakistani accord announced last year.

A final consensus between the three states is needed to complete the deal, Harraj continued.

Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Türkiye was seeking to join the Pak-Saudi defense pact signed in September 2025.

"The Pakistan-Saudi Arabia-Türkiye trilateral agreement is something that is already in pipeline," Harraj said in an interview.

"The draft agreement is already available with us. The draft agreement is already with Saudi Arabia. The draft agreement is already available with Turkey. And all three countries are deliberating. And this agreement has been there for the last 10 months."

Fidan pointed to a need for broader regional cooperation and trust to overcome distrust that creates "cracks and problems" that led to the emergence of external hegemonies, or wars and instability stemming from terrorism, in the region.

"At the end of all of these, we have a proposal like this: all regional nations must come together to create a cooperation platform on the issue of security," Fidan said. Regional issues could be resolved if the relevant countries were "sure of each other," he added.

"At the moment, there are meetings and talks, but we have not signed any agreement. Our President (Recep Tayyip Erdogan's) vision is for an inclusive platform that creates wider, bigger cooperation and stability," Fidan said, without naming Pakistan or Saudi Arabia directly.

January 16, 2026 03:04 PM GMT+03:00
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