Mecca Joint Defense Agreement: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Mohammed bin Salman, and Shehbaz Sharif
(From left) Turkish Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after signing the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on August 7, 2026.
Mecca Pact
international relations
Also known as: Mecca Joint Defense Agreement
Mecca Pact, mutual security arrangement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey (Türkiye), and Pakistan, signed in August 2026. The agreement took place five months into the 2026 Iran war, which upended the already fast-changing security dynamics of the Middle East region and revealed the vulnerability of such Gulf Arab states as Saudi Arabia that had previously relied on the United States. Among the other recent developments leading to the arrangement was the increased regional competition between Turkey...