Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan Sign Joint Defence Deal
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- Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will sign a joint defence agreement on Friday in Jeddah, confirmed by a Turkish official after nearly a year of negotiations first reported by Reuters in January
- Turkish President Erdogan, Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir will meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the signing, cementing a grouping of major Sunni Muslim powers
- The pact comes as Gulf states come under fire from Iran after it was attacked by the U.S. and Israel, with the Strait of Hormuz shipping of oil and key goods disrupted
- An existing Saudi-Pakistani pact already treats an attack on either country as an attack on both and encompasses "all military means," per a Saudi official
- Turkey is a NATO member, Saudi Arabia is one of the world's top oil exporters and strongest Gulf state, and Pakistan is the only nuclear-armed Muslim country
- The Pakistani military and government and Saudi Arabia's government did not immediately respond to requests for comment on their specific commitments under the new pact
Why it matters: The pact formalizes a Sunni-power alignment that pairs NATO-member Turkey, top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, and the only nuclear-armed Muslim country Pakistan at a moment when Gulf states face direct Iranian retaliation — giving Riyadh and Ankara a nuclear-capable backstop and Pakistan a deeper Gulf patron.
