Turkiye lawmakers back Mecca defence pact in 279-vote nod, NATO-style clause included

Turkiye's parliament has ratified a defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, locking NATO's second-biggest military into a collective defence arrangement. Lawmakers voted 279 in favour and 119 against, with 398 of the chamber's 592 members taking part. The deal, signed back in August as the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, cleared the house on Thursday after a stop-start session.

Things got procedural a day earlier. Article 1 of the approving bill passed on Wednesday, then Deputy Parliament Speaker Celal Adan pushed the session to Thursday afternoon, according to the Anadolu news agency. When lawmakers returned, they worked through the remaining articles before the full 16-article pact won approval. The document was submitted to parliament last month and was seen by Reuters.

The teeth of the agreement sit in its opening clauses. Article 1 says signatories will use everything at their disposal to wipe out threats to one another's territorial integrity and can be triggered by an attack on any member. Article 2 goes further: if a party is hit by armed attack or military aggression from another country or group of countries, the others must immediately send assistance using the full range of mutual aid available. That mirrors Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, where an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all.

Because Turkiye sits in both camps, critics have questioned whether Ankara could get tangled up in competing military obligations. Turkish officials have waved those concerns off as unfounded. Beyond the defence clause, the pact commits members to deeper defence industry cooperation, joint training, shared logistics and intelligence, and technological innovation. It runs for 10 years before members can walk away, and other countries can join if the existing signatories agree. Syria's government has already signalled interest.

Don't expect Turkish boots on Saudi soil just yet. Experts say any deployment would need further legislative steps, and Defence Minister Yasar Guler said in October that the scope of support would only be settled after ratification. Turkish media quoted him saying Ankara has no intention of fighting the Houthis, and that its role would be to strengthen deterrence.

The backdrop is a conflict heating up again. Tensions between Riyadh and Yemen had cooled after a 2022 ceasefire, but the Iran-backed Houthis have ramped up attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent months, including deadly strikes on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. On Thursday, Saudi Arabia said it intercepted a drone in the Medina region. Riyadh has repeatedly accused the Houthis of targeting Mecca and Medina, charges the group consistently denies.