ANKARA (Dunya News) – Turkiye plans to seek parliamentary authorisation to deploy military personnel to Saudi Arabia under a trilateral defence agreement with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, a ruling party lawmaker told Reuters on Wednesday.
The proposed mandate would be submitted after parliament approves legislation ratifying the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, signed by the three countries in August.
Turkiye submitted the agreement for parliamentary ratification on Tuesday, marking a step towards formalising mutual defence commitments among the three partners.
A lawmaker from Turkiye’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), speaking anonymously, said Turkish personnel sent under the agreement would not participate in offensive operations. Initial deployments would focus on technical assistance, air defence, electronic warfare technology and other defensive capabilities.
The development comes as Saudi Arabia faces security threats, including attacks attributed to Yemen’s Houthi movement. Türkiye has condemned the attacks and expressed willingness to support Saudi Arabia’s defence needs.
Earlier reports had indicated that Türkiye’s contribution would primarily involve military equipment, intelligence sharing and weapons systems. The latest comments suggest that technical personnel and defence specialists could also be deployed under the proposed arrangement.
The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement establishes a framework for cooperation among Pakistan, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia. Its provisions state that an armed attack against one member would be treated as an attack against all three, with the countries committing to provide assistance using available resources and capabilities.
The agreement calls for the parties to take necessary measures to address threats to one another’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognised borders. It also provides for consultations to determine the nature and extent of assistance following an assessment of the circumstances.
The framework resembles the collective-defence principle under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, although the scope of any response would depend on the agreement’s provisions and decisions taken by the participating countries.
At an emergency meeting in Riyadh earlier this month, the three countries agreed to pursue the rapid deployment of military forces and capabilities in Saudi Arabia.
Beyond military deployments, the agreement envisages cooperation in defence production, intelligence sharing, logistics and counterterrorism, including operational coordination.
The proposed Turkish mandate represents a further step in implementing the trilateral arrangement, although the deployment plan remains subject to the relevant parliamentary process.