Turkiye backs Saudi Arabia’s security amid escalating Houthi attacks: FM

By Al Jazeera Staff. Published On 19 Sep 202619 Sep 2026.

Key points

• Pakistan's Foreign Office has remarked no military response is at present under discussion under the pact, adding that Islamabad would act "when time comes".
• Pakistan has created a similar pledge to defend Saudi Arabia under the defence pact.
• The trilateral pact was struck as Gulf states grow increasingly concerned regarding being pulled into the wider US-Iran war.
• Its founding principle is that an armed attack against any one of the three states will be treated as an attack against all three.
• Analysts have questioned how much substance lies behind the pact so far, noting it lacks the integrated command structure and standing forces that underpin NATO.

According to Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has, saudi Arabia may have unmet military needs from the attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels and that Turkiye would consider how to backing the kingdom as part of a trilateral defence pact.

Speaking to Turkish broadcaster NTV on Friday, Fidan remarked it was unacceptable for Saudi Arabia to be dragged into the US-Iran war, adding that Riyadh had no desire to join the conflict.

He continued that proposals had been conveyed to all sides in a bid to end the fighting, without further elaborating.

As the Houthis press gains that have brought sizeable stretches of the Red Sea coast, including the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, under their control, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia continue trading attacks in an escalating war in Yemen.

Though he did not say whether Riyadh had asked for more Pakistani troops, lieutenant-General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, a spokesperson for Pakistan's military, informed Arab News on Thursday that Islamabad would defend Saudi Arabia "to any extent", including "physically".

Notably, the trilateral agreement, known as the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, was signed on August 7 in Mecca by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

After authorities gathering in Istanbul agreed to set up a secretariat in Riyadh, to be headed initially by a Pakistani secretary-general, the three countries formally named the arrangement the Mecca Defence Alliance on August 31.

Fidan remarked at the time the alliance was built on "respecting the sovereignty of other states, territorial integrity and not intervening in internal affairs", and remained open to other countries joining.

Its institutional shape, including how the mutual defence clause would actually be triggered, remains unclear.

In practice, the trilateral pact was struck as Gulf states grow increasingly concerned regarding being pulled into the wider US-Iran war. It has continued for more than six months since Washington and Israel first struck Iran in February.

For now, turkiye backs Saudi Arabia's security amid escalating Houthi attacks: FM remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.