Turkish foreign minister Fidan said the recently signed Mecca Joint Defense Agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan aims to boost regional autonomy and should be expanded, with additional countries expressing interest and Egypt likely to join in the next phase, he told Anadolu on the 8th. He said the pact’s mutual-defense clause is, in technical terms, equivalent to NATO’s collective-defense clause, but its practical application will depend on discussions and decisions by the relevan

Turkish foreign minister Fidan said the recently signed Mecca Joint Defense Agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan aims to boost regional autonomy and should be expanded, with additional countries expressing interest and Egypt likely to join in the next phase, he told Anadolu on the 8th. He said the pact’s mutual-defense clause is, in technical terms, equivalent to NATO’s collective-defense clause, but its practical application will depend on discussions and decisions by the relevant committee.