Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan sign mutual defense pact
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement on August 7, 2026, declaring that an attack on any one of the three states will be treated as an attack on all. Sources: CBS News/AP, Al Jazeera/Reuters.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed a trilateral defense agreement in Mecca on August 7, 2026, named the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement. The deal states that any armed attack against any one of the three states will be regarded as an attack against all three, and expands defense cooperation between the countries. It builds on a bilateral Saudi-Pakistan mutual defense pact signed in September 2025. A Turkish official described the new agreement as purely defensive and open to other countries joining; a Saudi official said it does not represent a military axis and is not linked to any nuclear ambitions. Source: CBS News/AP, Al Jazeera/Reuters.