Turkey will submit to parliament a mandate allowing military personnel to be deployed to Saudi Arabia under its joint defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, a lawmaker from the ruling AK Party told Reuters on Wednesday. The mandate would be sent to parliament once a bill ratifying the accord has been approved, moving NATO's second-largest army closer to a formal mutual defence pledge with Riyadh as it faces Houthi attacks.
Turkey submitted the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, signed by the three countries in August, to parliament for ratification on Tuesday. The AKP lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity, said no Turkish troops deployed under the pact would take part in offensive operations, adding that technical personnel and experts would be sent initially to help with air defences, electronic warfare technologies and other defensive support, Reuters reported.
Earlier, two officials had told Reuters that Turkey's contribution was expected to be limited to military equipment, intelligence sharing and weapons systems, adding that no other form of deployment had taken place under the alliance so far. Turkey, which has condemned the Houthi attacks, has also agreed to join a Saudi-led coalition to ensure navigational safety in the Red Sea.
The development marks a significant deepening of security ties between Ankara and Riyadh at a moment of acute regional tension, and it will be watched closely in Washington and Tehran. The United States has long underwritten Gulf security, while Iran, which backs the Houthis, will read the agreement as a further consolidation of the anti-Houthi coalition.
For Turkey, the mandate would be the latest in a series of overseas military authorisations. Parliament in Ankara routinely approves deployments to theatres including Syria, Iraq, Libya and Qatar, and the Saudi mandate would extend that pattern to one of the region's wealthiest and most strategically important states. Turkey has condemned the Houthi attacks and has also agreed to join a Saudi-led coalition to ensure navigational safety in the Red Sea, where commercial shipping has faced repeated threats.