Turkish FM says ready to meet Saudi defence needs – what does that mean?

Turkiye says it is ready to help meet Saudi Arabia’s military needs as Riyadh faces escalating attacks from Yemen’s Houthis, potentially putting a newly signed Mecca defence pact to its first major test.

Last month, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, which treats an armed attack on any of its three member countries as an attack on all three, amid growing regional tensions.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Saudi Arabia may require military assistance, particularly on “technical issues”, and that Ankara would have no problem providing it.

His comments come as Houthi missile and drone attacks increasingly target Saudi cities, energy infrastructure and shipping, opening another front in a wider regional conflict that began with the US-Israeli war on Iran in February.

The escalation has also raised the stakes for global energy supplies, as the Iran-aligned Houthis tightened their grip on the Red Sea, which has been used as an alternative route for Saudi oil exports amid the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

So, what does Turkiye’s offer mean in practice, and will the defence pact trigger military involvement by its members?

What did Turkiye say?

Speaking to Turkish media on Saturday, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Saudi Arabia could have military requirements because of the continuing Houthi attacks and that Ankara was prepared to provide assistance under its defence agreement with Riyadh and Islamabad.

“We see there are very serious attacks on Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity, sovereignty,” Fidan told Turkish broadcaster NTV.

He said Saudi Arabia “may have some military needs, especially on some technical issues”, adding that Turkiye would have “no issues in meeting these”.

Fidan did not specify what assistance Turkiye might provide.

Turkiye, which has NATO’s second-largest military, has condemned the Houthi attacks and called for them to stop immediately.

Nawaf Obaid, a senior research fellow at King’s College London, said Saudi Arabia and its allies are putting together a coordinated military response to recent Houthi attacks, arguing that Riyadh is less isolated than it may appear.

“There is a coalition coalescing around the threat on how to properly respond to what the Houthis have been doing,” he told Al Jazeera.

Obaid said the response “is coming”, adding: “It is going to be sequenced. It is going to be massive. It is going to be fused together, and it’s going to be land, sea and air.”

The analyst said countries had already begun moving weapons systems into Saudi Arabia and deploying fighter jets into the Red Sea, identifying Turkiye as a key participant and Egypt as a possible partner in a more limited operational role.

However, Al Jazeera could not independently verify the claims made by Obaid.

Meanwhile, Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said that “the Saudis are kind of stuck”.

“They’ve reached out to numerous allies. Allies are producing some measure of support – logistics support, intelligence, weapons – but it doesn’t look like the Pakistanis or the Turks or the Egyptians or the Americans, or anyone else, wants to get directly involved in kinetic military action,” Elmasry told Al Jazeera.

What is the Mecca defence pact?

Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan formally named the arrangement the Mecca Defence Alliance on August 31, after officials meeting in Istanbul agreed to set up a secretariat in Riyadh, to be headed initially by a Pakistani secretary-general.

Its founding principle is that an armed attack against any one of the three states will be treated as an attack against all three – similar to NATO’s collective defence clause.

Fidan said at the time that the alliance was built on “respecting the sovereignty of other states, territorial integrity and not intervening in internal affairs”, and remained open to other countries joining.

The trilateral pact was struck as Gulf states grow increasingly concerned about being pulled into the wider US-Iran war, which has continued for more than six months since Washington and Israel first struck Iran in February.

The military pact also came amid concerns over Israel’s expanding military reach in the Middle East. Israel has bombed several regional countries, including Qatar, since launching its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023.

What has Pakistan said?

Lieutenant-General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, director-general of the Pakistan military’s media wing, told the Saudi newspaper Arab News on Thursday that Islamabad stands with Saudi Arabia diplomatically and physically.

“I would like to underscore here the word ‘physically’,” Chaudhry said. “We will go to any extent.”

Last week, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said there had been no discussions about launching a military response under the Mecca agreement following Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia.

Islamabad has nevertheless reiterated its commitment to the agreement. Pakistan has said it would act when the “time comes”, without specifying what circumstances would trigger such action.

Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif earlier this month said any attack on Saudi Arabia could activate the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement.

“We are bound by the terms and conditions of this pact, and … we will honour them in case there is a need,” he said in an interview on September 8.

The latest Saudi-Houthi fighting

Saudi-led coalition forces said on Saturday that the Houthis fired a ballistic missile at Riyadh at dawn before it was intercepted and destroyed.

“The Houthis also attempted to target civilians and civilian infrastructure in Bisha, Taif, Farasan and Yanbu,” coalition forces spokesperson Major-General Turki al-Maliki wrote on X, adding that the attacks were thwarted by the kingdom’s air defences.

Meanwhile, on the ground in Yemen, the armed forces of the Saudi-backed internationally recognised government said their fighters thwarted a Houthi infiltration attempt in the al-Fuliahan sector in southern Marib on Saturday, killing 12 Houthi fighters and injuring others.

After capturing the Red Sea port city of Mocha, the Houthis have been advancing on Marib – an oil-rich province still under the control of the Saudi-backed government.

As the Houthis made military gains, Vice President JD Vance said on Monday that Washington was in close contact with Saudi Arabia and has held direct talks with the Houthis.

The current escalation marks the most serious fighting involving the Houthis and Saudi-backed forces since a UN-brokered truce halted large-scale hostilities in Yemen in 2022. The Houthis have made territorial gains along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, including around the strategically important Bab al-Mandeb strait.

The Bab al-Mandeb is a key route connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, and its importance has increased while shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted.

The group has also stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting cities and energy infrastructure.

What is the US position?

US President Donald Trump has so far shied away from direct US military action against the Houthis.

Last week, Reuters news agency, citing sources, reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had sought military assistance from the US president to help fight the Houthis.

Trump did not agree to US strikes on the group, but Washington told Riyadh it would provide intelligence-sharing and targeting assistance, the sources added.

The position contrasts with Washington’s own campaign against the Houthis last year, when US forces bombed the group for two months before the two sides agreed to a ceasefire.

Nevertheless, the Trump administration has continued its broader defence relationship with Riyadh. On Thursday, the US State Department approved the possible sale of 48 F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia in a deal valued at $24.3bn, although the sale still requires congressional approval.

William Lawrence, a former US diplomat, said that Washington will likely get involved in the conflict.

“I think they will at some point,” Lawrence, a professor of international relations at American University, told Al Jazeera.

“They’ve shown in the past they’re willing to engage on Yemen when it affects their own interests.”

He pointed to the link between the conflicts in the Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb straits and the global economy, as well as US security commitments to Saudi Arabia.

Lawrence said there was a growing view in the US in the last couple of days that it “needs to do something” to help protect Saudi Arabia and prevent the Houthis from consolidating their gains.

“What form that takes is not clear,” he said.

But Lawrence said Washington was already deeply involved, with about 100 US military advisers in Saudi Arabia and extensive intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support.

“So, it wouldn’t be too much of a ramp-up for the Americans to get further involved,” he said.