This handout photograph taken and released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry on October 5, 2026 shows (L-R) Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Ishaq Dar, Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan posing during a meeting of the Strategic Political and Defense Committee, established under the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, in Riyadh. (Photo by Handout / Turkish Foreign Ministry / AFP)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Turkiye and Pakistan will undertake a "rapid deployment" of troops to Saudi Arabia as part of a new mutual defence alliance, the three countries said Monday, as the Gulf kingdom faces escalating attacks from Yemen's Houthis.
The three countries in August signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement committing them to come to each other's aid in the event one were attacked.
The pact unites NATO's second-largest army, that of Turkiye, with the Islamic world's only nuclear-armed state, Pakistan, and the leading Gulf power, Saudi Arabia.
Their representatives held an emergency meeting in Riyadh on Monday where they noted recent attacks on Saudi Arabia, in particular ones targeting the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, without mentioning Houthis by name.
The trio "reaffirmed their unequivocal rejection of any attack or threat against the Kingdom's security and territorial integrity", they said in a joint statement.
They also agreed "to move immediately to the practical implementation of the collective defence commitments and to take the necessary measures to provide the agreed military forces and capabilities and ensure their rapid deployment in the Kingdom".
The statement did not specify what sort of role the troops would fill once in Saudi Arabia.
