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Images and a video shared online showing Turkish and Pakistani troops deploying to Saudi Arabia under the Mecca defense pact are old visuals from unrelated events, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) fact check found, as Egypt's parliament weighed military support for the kingdom amid Houthi attacks.
"Both Türkiye and Pakistan have sent troops en masse to Saudi Arabia," read a Burmese-language Facebook post shared on Oct. 10 alongside four photos of soldiers and military trucks.
A TikTok video showing military helicopters flying at night was posted Oct. 6 with a similar claim.
The Mecca pact’s planned "rapid deployment" to Saudi Arabia has drawn intense attention, but no details of Turkish troop movements have been made public, and Ankara has said any deployment requires parliamentary approval.
Reverse image searches showed one photo was a Reuters image from Dec. 15, 2025, of fighters from a Yemeni separatist group, while another was an Associated Press photo from Oct. 5 showing Yemeni government troops.
A third image came from a Feb. 9 TRT Haber video of Turkish troops joining a NATO exercise in Germany.
A fourth was an Associated Press (AP) photo from May 21 showing Saudi special forces praying before a parade ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
The helicopter video was published on the U.S. military’s DVIDS website on Aug. 14, 2024, showing soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division preparing to take off in AH-64 Apache helicopters.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement (MJDA) on Aug. 7, under which an attack on one is considered an attack on all.
On Oct. 5, the three countries agreed to "immediately" implement their collective defense commitments and take steps for the "rapid deployment" of agreed forces to the kingdom, but did not specify the troops' role.
Türkiye's Ministry of National Defense has said deploying Turkish forces requires approval by the Turkish parliament, and Ankara has described the pact as defensive and open to other friendly countries.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian recently told Al Jazeera that Iran was ready to join.
"We are ready to take part in this process," he said.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s parliament on Sunday postponed a vote on President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s request to authorize military support for Saudi Arabia "if requested," two lawmakers told AFP.
"The session was extended to give all lawmakers the opportunity to speak and express their views," lawmaker Ibrahim Kholeif said, adding that most supported the move.
Egypt's National Defense Council, chaired by Sisi, approved providing Saudi Arabia with "all necessary and available forms of support." Sisi said Egypt was not seeking to "confront or attack anyone. We are speaking only about defense."
Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Egypt’s membership in the Mecca pact "is under serious consideration from the Egyptian side." "Whatever is being asked by the Saudis, of course we will respond," he told Bloomberg.
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