How will the Mecca agreement become an operational framework?

Video Duration 27 minutes 40 seconds 27: 40.

Key points

• Muhanad Seloom – Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs.
• Rabia Akhtar – Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Lahore.
• Galip Dalay – Senior Research Fellow at Chatham House specialising in Turkish foreign policy.
• On August 7, the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye signed a security agreement in Mecca.
• It comes as tension in the Middle East is running high, with no end in sight to the war in Iran.

Now their defence and foreign affairs ministers are working out how to turn the pact into an operational framework.

Meanwhile, the terms clearly state that an attack against one of the three countries will be considered an attack against all of them.

And with that in mind, the Istanbul session focuses on coordinating defence production capabilities and deepening cooperation in the industry.

But what are the hurdles to these three countries forming a functioning military and security model?

Galip Dalay – Senior Research Fellow at Chatham House specialising in Turkish foreign policy. Published On 31 Aug 202631 Aug 2026.

Taken together, the developments around how will the Mecca agreement become an operational framework? Point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.