Why Turkey is drawing the line at defense in its support for Saudi Arabia

ANKARA — Turkey is pushing back against criticism of its Mecca defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, while signaling that its support for Riyadh against Houthi attacks will stop short of offensive involvement because of its Red Sea interests and ties with Iran.

Turkey’s Defense Ministry on Friday announced that General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, chief of the general staff, had traveled to Saudi Arabia that day to meet with his Saudi counterpart, General Fayyadh bin Hamed al-Ruwaili, as well as Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir. No statements were released after the meeting. 

The talks took place as the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey in August, came under renewed scrutiny amid escalating Houthi attacks on the kingdom. On Thursday, Saudi authorities intercepted several missiles and drones targeting locations including the southwestern city of Taif, home to King Fahd Air Base.

The urgent meeting of the military chiefs follows talks Thursday between Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

The ministers reviewed technical-level preparations to institutionalize military cooperation under the agreement, a Turkish diplomatic source told journalists after the meeting.

The first phase of implementation will include establishing a permanent secretariat in Riyadh and a joint military headquarters. A Turkish official told Al-Monitor, “The secretariat will be announced in the coming weeks.”

Turkey is expected to ratify the pact next month, when parliament returns from its summer recess.

An early test

The Mecca defense pact is facing growing scrutiny as intensifying Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia test the three countries’ commitment to treat an attack on one member as an attack on all.

Over the past week, the Houthis have claimed attacks on Riyadh and Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu, the kingdom’s key Red Sea oil-export hub, while Saudi authorities said they intercepted a drone near Mecca. 

The escalation has added urgency to efforts by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey to operationalize the pact, including plans for an urgent meeting of their military chiefs and steps to establish its institutional structure. The attacks have also raised questions about how the agreement’s collective-defense clause will work in practice.

Fidan earlier this week tried to fend off criticism, arguing that it is premature to judge a newly established defense alliance.

Speaking at an event in New York on Wednesday, Fidan said that the criticism is “not fair,” noting that NATO, founded in 1949, has invoked its collective defense clause only once, following the Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaeda attacks on the United States.

“[Critics] point to a 10-year crisis . . . and say, ‘Look, this is not working,’” Fidan said. “We have only just begun.”

Offense vs. Defense 

From Ankara’s perspective, criticism of the pact also blurs an important distinction: defending Saudi territory against Houthi attacks is fundamentally different from becoming directly involved in Yemen’s civil war by supporting Saudi-backed government forces in offensive operations.

“The Mecca agreement is a defense pact,” a second Turkish official told Al-Monitor, adding that questions over whether Turkey would join the war in Yemen remain largely separate from its obligations to help defend Saudi Arabia against attacks on its territory.

When it comes to potential offensive action aimed at degrading the Houthis’ missile and drone capabilities, Gonul Tol, founding director of the Middle East Institute’s Turkey Program, believes Ankara will draw a line.

“I do not expect [Turkey] to take part in offensive operations against the Houthis,” she told Al-Monitor.

According to Tol, any Turkish offensive action against the Houthis in Yemen risks exposing Ankara’s expanding interests in the Red Sea and Horn of Africa to retaliation.

As part of its advances in Yemen, Houthis seized a series of strategic locations along the coast of the Red Sea, including Mokha, which lies roughly 50 miles from strategic Bab el-Mandeb strait. 

Foremost among Turkish interests in the Red Sea is Turkey’s extensive military and economic footprint in Somalia, strategically located along maritime routes connecting the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. The Horn of Africa country also hosts one of Turkey’s largest overseas military bases and has become a focus of growing Turkish strategic investment, which reached more than $100 million, according to official data from 2025.

Ankara is also conducting offshore oil exploration there, with drilling underway since earlier this year. It is also building its first overseas spaceport on Somalia’s Indian Ocean coast for satellite launches and missile testing, part of Turkey’s broader push to expand its domestic defense and space capabilities.

Potential Turkish attacks on the Iran-backed group could also jeopardize its ties with neighboring Iran, with which Ankara has maintained diplomatic and economic engagement even as the two countries back opposing sides in several regional conflicts.

“I expect Turkey’s involvement to remain limited,” Tol said. “Ankara is likely to support Saudi Arabia through training, intelligence sharing, technical assistance and potentially air defense and counter-drone capabilities.”

Comments by Fidan made last week also appear to show the limits of Turkey’s commitments under the pact, suggesting Ankara sees its role as helping bolster Saudi defenses rather than joining offensive operations against the Houthis.

"[Saudi Arabia] may have some military needs, especially on some technical issues," Fidan told Turkey's NTV television on Sept. 19. "We would have no issues in meeting these."