Turkey’s ruling AKP party is reportedly pushing for a parliamentary mandate to send troops to Saudi Arabia to help defend the kingdom against attacks from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement, according to a report citing an unnamed AKP lawmaker who spoke to Reuters on Wednesday.
The lawmaker said any Turkish deployment would be strictly defensive, with troops barred from joining offensive operations against the Houthis. The first group sent would reportedly include specialists in missile and drone defense.
The move would mark a significant shift. Two other Turkish officials had previously said Ankara intended to limit its support to military equipment and intelligence sharing, rather than troops on the ground.
At the center of the dispute is the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, a trilateral pact signed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan in early August and named for the Saudi city where it was signed. Mecca, one of Islam’s holiest sites, has since been targeted by Houthi drone attacks, provoking anger across much of the Muslim world.
The agreement contains a mutual-defense clause similar to NATO’s Article V, committing each signatory to treat an attack on one as an attack on all. In their joint declaration in August, the three countries said the pact was “intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression” and would deepen defense cooperation among them.
Slow movement despite emergency talks
That commitment has proven difficult to act on quickly. Turkey has publicly condemned Houthi strikes on Saudi civilian sites but had held back from direct military involvement, even as the trilateral pact appeared to call for it.
On October 5, representatives of the three nations met in Riyadh for emergency talks on how to respond to the Houthi attacks. Pakistan and Turkey agreed at that meeting to “take the necessary measures to provide the agreed military forces and capabilities and ensure their rapid deployment in the Kingdom.”
Nearly three weeks later, and after further Houthi strikes on Saudi airports, no Turkish or Pakistani troops are known to have actually deployed to Saudi soil. Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said at the October 5 meeting that “the forces of Turkey and Pakistan are playing a supporting role,” citing reconnaissance work.
On Tuesday, Turkish officials noted that the Mecca agreement had never actually been ratified by Turkey’s parliament and said that process was now beginning. The bill authorizing deployment to Saudi Arabia is expected to be taken up once parliamentary speaker Numan Kurtulmus returns from a trip to Kyrgyzstan, where he is attending the General Assembly of the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States.
According to Turkey’s Daily Sabah, if lawmakers approve the bill, Turkey would supply low- and medium-altitude aerial defense systems to Saudi Arabia, along with help in drone technology and electronic warfare, while Saudi Arabia would provide a base for Turkish forces to operate from. The outlet also reported that Saudi officials have conveyed “some expectations” to Turkey’s Foreign Ministry that are currently under review.
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