The Mecca Pact: Turkey’s parliament ratifies the joint defence agreement with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan

The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ratified on Thursday, November 5 the Mecca Pact on the joint defence of Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, by 279 votes in favour and 119 against. The final vote came a day after the plenary had passed the first of the three articles of the ratification bill, and with it Turkey completes its own ratification process, at a time when Yemen’s Houthis are stepping up their attacks on the kingdom.

The agreement was signed on August 7 in Mecca by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. It will enter into force when all three countries complete their internal ratification procedures and the last instrument of ratification is deposited with the secretariat of the Strategic Committee. The parliament’s decision opens the way for Turkish military support to Saudi Arabia, but any troop deployment will need separate approval from the plenary. Fuat Oktay, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and an AKP MP, assured that Turkey “will not be dragged into an uncontrolled process against its will”. In Al-Monitor’s assessment, a Turkish contribution will most likely be limited to training, an advisory role and the supply of military equipment, not a large troop force.

The governing majority sped up the process. On Tuesday, November 3 the plenary approved a motion by the AKP parliamentary group to put the bill second on the agenda before the 48-hour period had passed, and the debate continued on Wednesday. The text had earlier passed the Foreign Affairs Committee, where the People’s Alliance (AKP and MHP) voted in favour and the pro-Kurdish DEM against. Also on the parliament’s schedule, for Thursday, November 12, is ratification of a police cooperation memorandum with Libya’s government of national unity.

Who said yes and who said no

The AKP, MHP and CHP voted in favour. CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu had spoken to his party group of a “new world order” and said whoever does not become a regional power “is crushed and lost”. He also said he had spoken with a Yemeni minister and told him that if Turkey goes to the region under the agreement, it will go to bring peace, insisting the text does not provide for sending soldiers. In the plenary, CHP parliamentary group chairman Faik Öztrak confirmed support, but asked that cooperation be limited to defence and deterrence and that the parliament keep the authority over sending the Turkish Armed Forces abroad.

By contrast, Müsavat Dervişoğlu’s İYİ Party, Ali Babacan’s DEVA and Mahmut Arıkan’s Felicity Party had announced they would not support the agreement, with Arıkan making clear he does not accept it “in this form”. The party of Özgür Özel also opposed it. Speaking to his parliamentary group, Özel said he opposed sending Turkish soldiers to Yemen, argued it was a Trump plan and stressed that “no one has the right” to make Turkey “an extra of Trump” and a “protector of Israel”. From the plenary podium, Murat Emir of Özel’s party called the agreement tantamount to “treason”, while İYİ MPs criticised that for the first ten years there is no possibility of withdrawal.

In the debate, Oktay replied that sending Turkish soldiers to take part in conflicts will require parliamentary authorisation under Article 92 of the Constitution and that support in case of attack will be decided by consultation and unanimity. He added that Iran has conveyed through official and unofficial channels that it does not oppose the agreement.

What the text provides

Article 2 states that external armed attack or military aggression against one of the three “Principal Parties” is considered an attack on all, on the basis of Article 51 of the UN Charter. Help, however, is not automatic. The country under attack must first request it, and the three decide unanimously on the type and extent of support.

The agreement also provides for joint defence production and research, a mechanism for supplying ammunition, weapons, fuel and spare parts in peace, war and emergency, and exchange of information through secure channels. It establishes a Strategic Policy and Defence Committee of foreign ministers, defence ministers and chiefs of staff, meeting at least twice a year, and a permanent secretariat in Saudi Arabia with a Pakistani as first secretary general for three years. No country may withdraw during the first ten years from entry into force, and new members are admitted only with the unanimity of the three.

An AKP MP said in October to Reuters that the government will submit to parliament a separate authorisation for deploying military personnel in Saudi Arabia, while Defence Minister Yaşar Güler has said Ankara does not foresee its troops being involved in combat or offensive operations against the Houthis. The Houthis claim they are now also striking targets in the south of the kingdom, such as Abha airport; see our report on the fighting in Yemen.

Al-Sharaa back in Riyadh

The Syrian president was received on Wednesday, November 4 by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, with a delegation that included the foreign, defence, finance and industry ministers and the head of General Intelligence. The two sides discussed bilateral relations and regional developments and stressed the importance of security and stability in the region. During the visit a cooperation agreement between the two countries’ defence ministries was also signed; see our report. It was his second visit to Riyadh within a few weeks, after the visit of October 6. A few days earlier, at the Manama Dialogue, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani had said there had been “some negotiations” on Syria joining the agreement and that Damascus regards the security of the Gulf as part of its own. A Turkish official confirmed to the Associated Press that the matter is under discussion, but added that the three members are focused on institutionalising the agreement and that until this is complete “the question of any third country joining will not arise”.