Bloomberg: Turkey Seeks to Join the Saudi-Pakistani Joint Defense Agreement

SadaNews - Turkey is seeking to join the defense alliance between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, paving the way for a new security agreement that could alter the balance of power in the Middle East and beyond, according to Bloomberg sources familiar with the matter.

Last September, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a joint strategic defense agreement as part of both countries' efforts to enhance their security and achieve peace and stability in the region and the world. The agreement stipulates that any "attack" on one of the countries is considered an attack on all. This is similar to Article 5 of NATO, where Turkey has the second-largest military force after the United States.

Bloomberg reported that talks with Turkey have reached an advanced stage, and an agreement is "highly likely," according to the sources.

This comes at a time when Turkey's interests are increasingly aligning with those of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in South Asia, the Middle East, and even Africa. Turkey also sees the agreement as a means to bolster security and deterrent factors amid the geopolitical challenges in the region and NATO.

A New Era of Relations

If Turkey succeeds in joining the defense alliance between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, it will confirm a new era in military relations between the three countries.

Riyadh and Ankara are working on developing economic and defense cooperation. According to the Turkish Ministry of Defense, the two countries held their first-ever naval meeting in Ankara this week.

Turkey also aims to enhance its defense industry, considering Saudi Arabia, one of the largest arms importers in the world, as a key market. The two countries signed an agreement in 2023 for Saudi Arabia to purchase high-altitude drones from the Turkish company "Baykar."

Turkey and Pakistan have maintained close military ties for a long time. Ankara is building corvettes for the Pakistani Navy and has upgraded dozens of "F-16" fighter jets. Turkey is already sharing drone technology with both countries and is now seeking to include them in its fifth-generation fighter program "Kaan," as Bloomberg previously reported.

The trilateral defense talks come in the wake of a ceasefire between Pakistan and India, which ended a four-day military clash between the two nuclear neighbors in May.

Relations between Pakistan and its northern neighbor Afghanistan are also experiencing heightened tensions due to a series of clashes after Islamabad accused the Taliban of harboring hostile militant groups. Turkey and Qatar mediated talks to end the fighting, but they concluded without decisive results.