Syria considering entry into Mecca defence pact, says foreign minister
Damascus 'evaluating' whether to join the alliance that binds Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
Syria’s government is weighing whether to enter into a mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan, the country’s top diplomat says.
“Discussions are currently under way to evaluate Syria’s entry into the Mecca alliance,” Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said at the Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain on Saturday.
The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement was signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan in the Saudi city of Mecca in August. It states that an attack on one country is to be considered an attack on all three, and has been compared to the NATO security alliance that binds the United States, Canada and 30 European countries.
Government officials in Turkiye, where the pact’s ratification process is ongoing, have said any future military support for Riyadh would not include deploying Turkish troops to fight in Yemen or attack the Houthis.