Turkey’s Directorate of Communications said the Mecca joint defense agreement
signed with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan on the 7th does not conflict with NATO’s
Article 5. The pact, signed earlier that day in Mecca, states an armed attack on
any of the three will be treated as an attack on all. While some commentators
said the pact violated Article 5 and established a parallel alliance structure,
the Directorate called those claims baseless and said the agreement does not
contradict Turkey’s existing international alliance commitments, including NATO,
but is a complementary cooperation mechanism to help maintain regional security.
