The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement was signed last week as the Middle East faces the fallout from the US-Iran war, which has drawn in regional powers and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the pact’s scope was not limited to its three signatories
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye and expressed hope that other regional countries would eventually join.
“Our vision for it is not limited to the three countries,” Erdogan told London-based Asharq Al-Awsat. He said Turkiye hoped the agreement would expand and that conditions could eventually emerge for countries across the region to come under its umbrella.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday that Ankara expected Egypt to join the agreement at a later stage, adding that only a few technical issues remained. Egypt has yet to comment on the pact or Fidan’s remarks.
Fidan is scheduled to visit Cairo on Thursday and Friday. Although Egypt maintains strong military ties with Turkiye, it has not indicated whether it intends to join the new security alliance, which includes a Nato-style provision treating an attack on one member as an attack on all.
Erdogan said the agreement had emerged from the “new circumstances” in the Middle East, where regional countries were seeking greater responsibility for their own security and stability.
He said regional issues should be addressed by regional actors and described the pact as a first step towards that objective. Erdogan also criticised externally imposed solutions, saying they had repeatedly resulted in instability and conflict.
The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has described the Makkah agreement as an “important strategic step”. Kuwait, Bahrain and Somalia are among the countries that have welcomed the pact, while Iran has also responded positively, saying it supports security mechanisms based on cooperation among regional countries.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stressed that the agreement is purely defensive and intended to promote peace, progress and prosperity in the region.
The pact was signed against the backdrop of the US-Israel war on Iran. However, reports had emerged in January, before the conflict began, that Ankara was seeking to join a separate mutual defence agreement between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had signed a Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement in Riyadh in September 2025, under which an attack on either country would be treated as an act of aggression against both.
In January, Defence Production Minister Raza Hayat Harraj said a draft of the proposed trilateral arrangement had been prepared after 10 months of negotiations. Fidan had previously said Ankara favoured an inclusive platform aimed at expanding cooperation and promoting regional stability.
Pakistan has also been seeking to mediate efforts to end the US-Iran war, while Turkiye has played a diplomatic role in efforts to end the conflict in Gaza.
Erdogan also accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of attempting to remove the Palestinian cause from the international agenda by exploiting regional instability.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Erdogan said the Israeli government would not succeed in sidelining the Palestinian cause and reaffirmed Turkiye’s support for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
A strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, Erdogan has repeatedly criticised Netanyahu’s government, accusing it of genocide in Gaza and pursuing expansionist policies in the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and elsewhere.
Abbas arrived in Ankara on Tuesday accompanied by senior Palestinian officials and met Erdogan on Wednesday. The two leaders discussed regional developments, with Abbas describing the talks as important and fruitful.
Erdogan also welcomed the planned legislative and presidential elections in Palestine, saying they could help advance reconciliation between Abbas’s Fatah movement and Hamas, which controls Gaza.
Abbas, meanwhile, welcomed the defence agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, describing it as “of utmost importance” and expressing hope that it would contribute to greater security and stability in the region.
