Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan described Saudi Arabia being targeted from the south and the north, as well as being struck by attackers based in Iraq, as unacceptable. Fidan said these attacks are not merely a security issue targeting Saudi Arabia, but also threaten regional stability and critical infrastructure.
The threats from the south were considered in the context of Yemen. Fidan pointed to the long-running nature of the Yemen issue and drew attention to the impact of attacks facing Saudi Arabia from different directions on the region’s security balances.
The threats from the north were linked to attacks directed at Saudi Arabia by groups based in Iraq. Considering these two issues together showed that Riyadh faces not only attacks targeting its own territory but also broader security pressure connected to the activities of armed structures in neighboring countries.
The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement process
Fidan linked his remarks to the approach of the structure publicly known as the Mecca Alliance and said that Türkiye was acting in line with the spirit of this structure. The official name used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement. The structure aims to institutionalize political and defense cooperation between Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
An important step in the agreement process was taken in Mecca on August 7, 2026. The process came to the fore with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. In his assessment on August 8, Hakan Fidan said the structure was publicly known as the Mecca Alliance and that the three countries aimed to establish a joint security structure.
The first meeting of the Strategic Political and Defense Committee established under the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement was held in Istanbul on August 31, 2026. This meeting marked the first official step toward shaping the institutional structure after the agreement was signed. The structure is not viewed as limited to military cooperation; regional security, political consultations and joint threat assessments are also included.
Fidan’s latest remarks show that cooperation between Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is increasingly being directly linked to Yemen, Iraq and regional stability. The emphasis in the remarks indicates that threats coming at Saudi Arabia from different directions are being considered a regional issue not only in terms of the country’s security but also the protection of energy and other critical infrastructure.
