The Turkish Foreign Minister has stated that the defense agreement signed between Turkey, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia is not aimed at Iran. However, he noted that technically it is the same as the mutual defense agreement provided for in NATO's Article 5, under which an attack on one member is considered an attack on all members.
Turkey's foreign policy chief Hakan Fidan added that Egypt and other countries may join the agreement, signed by the leaders of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan on Friday, once a number of technical issues are resolved.
“NATO is a huge military alliance consisting of 32 countries. We started here as three countries, and we need to take very modest but concrete steps,” Fidan said.
A Turkish official told the state-run Anadolu news agency that a similar committee of ministers will be established within the NATO alliance, as well as a general secretariat that will be located in Saudi Arabia.
Fidan did not elaborate on what issues need to be resolved to pave the way for Egypt's joining the agreement.
In a preliminary statement, the Turkish government noted that “the agreement does not contradict Turkey's obligations already undertaken within the framework of existing international alliances, including key NATO obligations.” Turkey is a member of the Western military alliance — NATO.
“The agreement is particularly important given the growing challenges and threats facing the region, the main ones being terrorist attacks, arms smuggling, as well as threats directed against neighboring countries and international maritime routes,” the ministry added.
This comes amid rising uncertainty in the Middle East, as the end of the confrontation between Tehran and Washington remains unclear.
