Politics & Diplomacy
Fidan turns cautious: Turkey will not send troops to carry out attacks under the Mecca Agreement
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on October 8 that the Mecca Agreement with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is not offensive and that Turkey will not send troops to another country to carry out attacks there, in effect ruling out Turkish operations against the Houthis in Yemen.
Turkey will not send troops onto another country’s territory to carry out attacks under the Mecca Agreement with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan made clear on Thursday, October 8. “This is not an offensive agreement. Turkiye will not send troops to another country to carry out attacks on its territory,” he said at a joint press conference in Ankara with his Hungarian counterpart, Anita Orbán, as reported by The Express Tribune. The statement in effect rules out Turkish operations against the Houthis in Yemen.
Fidan said Turkey and Pakistan have discussed how Ankara can contribute to Saudi Arabia’s defence against Houthi attacks, while the Turkish side is seeking a resolution of the conflict through diplomacy and dialogue. He added that work on submitting the agreement to the Turkish Grand National Assembly is almost complete and that the bill will be tabled soon.
According to Fidan, the extraordinary session of the alliance’s Strategic Political and Defence Committee in Riyadh on October 5 mainly examined the attacks on Saudi Arabia and the institutionalisation of the alliance, with the structure of the military headquarters, the status of the secretariat and the appointment of a new secretary on the agenda. At that session, Turkey and Pakistan decided to activate collective deterrence measures and the rapid deployment of military forces and assets in Saudi Arabia.
The same day, at the weekly briefing of the Turkish Ministry of National Defence, officials said that the process for the military forces and assets Turkey can make available will be carried out in accordance with the Constitution and the provisions of the relevant legislation. They noted that the necessary measures for making available and deploying the agreed forces in Saudi Arabia were discussed in Riyadh, and that work on the remaining political, administrative, military and defence-industrial mechanisms will continue under national procedures. Neither the ministry nor Fidan gave the number or type of forces, or a timetable.
The Mecca Agreement was signed on August 7, 2026. Fidan has previously compared it to NATO’s Article 5, under which a country that is attacked asks its allies for assistance.
His remarks come as attacks on Saudi Arabia continue. On Thursday the Riyadh-led coalition announced the interception of three Houthi ballistic missiles fired towards Riyadh and Khamis Mushait, with debris damaging buildings in the capital, while attacks on the Abha and Riyadh airports killed three civilians.
