Turkish parliament to approve Saudi-Pakistan defence alliance

Turkey's parliament is set on Wednesday to ratify a defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan that includes a collective defence clause, committing NATO's second-largest army to Riyadh's defence as it faces attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis.

Ratification gives Ankara a formal mutual defence obligation toward Saudi Arabia, but it does not on its own send Turkish forces there. Deploying military personnel would require a separate mandate from parliament.

Turkey submitted the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement — signed by the three countries in August — to parliament for ratification last month. Under the pact, whose key clause mirrors NATO's Article 5 under which an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all, the parties plan to boost defence industry cooperation and military coordination, while creating deterrence against threats.

The pact was signed before the Houthis launched attacks against Saudi Arabia, and Wednesday's vote comes after a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran and Washington remain far from a deal to end their war, with Houthis stepping up attacks on Riyadh. 

Officials had told Reuters last month that Turkey's contribution to Saudi Arabia was expected to be limited to military equipment, intelligence sharing, and weapons systems.

A lawmaker from Turkey's ruling party told Reuters earlier that Turkey would also submit to parliament a mandate allowing for military personnel to be deployed to Saudi Arabia under the pact, but officials have said the scope of support for the kingdom would be determined through collective consultations and in line with requests from Riyadh.

Analysts say Turkey, which also has a robust defence industry, can help Saudi Arabia with technical support and combat expertise, as well as air defences and electronic warfare technologies. They say that Turkish troops, advisers and military personnel are expected to be deployed to help install and operate systems sent by Ankara once the planned deployment mandate is passed by parliament.

"I believe the Mecca alliance can be one of the first case studies of the concept that is called 'defense as a service', in which the supplier country not only provides equipment and platforms but also concepts, service, training, logistics as a whole, packaged together with political support and other layers of support," Arda Mevlutoglu, a defence analyst, told Reuters.

Defence Minister Yasar Guler has said Turkey did not see its troops engaging in combat or offensive operations against the Houthis.

Barin Kayaoglu, a professor of international relations at Ankara Social Sciences University and defence analyst, told Reuters the pact would also establish a certain level of interoperability between the allies as they operate similar systems and share expertise and technology.