Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and Chief of General Staff Gen. Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu will attend a meeting of the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement committee in Riyadh on Monday, where Fidan is expected to share Türkiye’s views on institutionalizing the alliance and express solidarity with Saudi Arabia against Houthi attacks.
Fidan is also expected to draw attention to Israel’s continued targeting of efforts to secure peace and stability in the region.
The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement was signed in Mecca on Aug. 7 by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman. The committee, made up of the three countries' foreign and defense ministers and chiefs of general staff, held its first meeting in Istanbul on Aug. 31, where key decisions were taken, including establishing an alliance secretariat in Riyadh as soon as possible, and retired Pakistani Lt. Gen. Nauman Mahmood was nominated as the alliance's first secretary-general.


