Turkiye backs Saudi Arabia’s security amid escalating Houthi attacks: FM

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told broadcaster NTV that Turkiye may assist Saudi Arabia militarily if the kingdom has unmet defence needs resulting from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. He framed any such support as part of the recently formed trilateral pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan, and said proposals had been shared with all parties in efforts to halt the fighting, without providing further details. The remarks come as the Iran-backed Houthis have intensified strikes, seizing stretches of the Red Sea coast and exerting control over strategic points such as the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, heightening concerns about maritime security and regional stability. Fidan also said it was unacceptable for Saudi Arabia to be drawn into the wider US-Iran confrontation and reiterated that Riyadh did not want to enter that conflict. Pakistan has made parallel commitments under the Mecca pact. Pakistan’s military spokesperson Lieutenant-General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told Arab News that Islamabad would defend Saudi Arabia “to any extent,” including “physically,” though he did not say whether additional Pakistani forces had been requested. Pakistan’s Foreign Office subsequently said no military response is currently being discussed under the pact and that Islamabad would act "when time comes." The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement was signed on August 7 by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and was formally named the Mecca Defence Alliance on August 31 after talks in Istanbul. The agreement’s stated principle treats an armed attack on any one member as an attack on all, but analysts have noted the pact lacks NATO-style integrated command structures or standing forces, and its mechanisms for triggering mutual defence remain undefined.