According to RT, sources at the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that senior officials from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan will hold the first committee meeting under the trilateral defense cooperation agreement in Istanbul on August 31.
As reported by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, senior officials from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan held a meeting today (August 31) in Istanbul. This marks the first session of the "Strategic Political and Defense Committee" established under the signing of the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement.
The Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, signed on August 7, was officially inked on August 7, 2026, in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Its core provision states that an armed attack against any one of the three countries shall be regarded as an attack against all three. The Turkish Foreign Minister stated that this clause is "technically equivalent" to NATO's Article Five.
Analysts view this inaugural meeting as a crucial step toward building a new security architecture among the three nations:
Recent deterioration in the security situation in the Middle East has prompted the three countries to seek more reliable security guarantees.
This reflects declining trust in U.S. security commitments and a desire to diversify security partnerships.
The agreement brings together Saudi Arabia (economic strength), Pakistan (nuclear capability), and Turkey (NATO member and military-industrial capacity), offering strong complementarity; the arrangement may even expand in the future.
The inaugural meeting was attended by foreign ministers, defense ministers, and chiefs of staff from each country. This high-level gathering represents a key step in transforming political consensus into concrete action, marking the beginning of a new security architecture emerging in the Middle East.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1874995294783491/
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