Mecca defense deal should pass through parliament, Özel says

ANKARA

Yeni Party chairman Özgür Özel (AA Photo)

Opposition leader Özgür Özel urged the government to honor its constitutional duties on foreign troop deployments, demanding that the military pact with Saudi Arabia be submitted to parliament for immediate review.

“Both Article 90 and Article 92 of the Constitution are being undermined. Article 90 of the Constitution tells how an international agreement comes into force,” the New Party leader told daily Cumhuriyet in an interview over the weekend.

Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan announced that they signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement on Aug. 7, paving the way for the foundation of the Mecca Alliance. Since then, the opposition has been urging the government to submit it to parliament.

The text of the agreement has not been made public yet, except for a joint statement that announced the development. Türkiye and Pakistan agreed on Oct. 5 to activate collective deterrence measures under the alliance and to rapidly deploy military forces and capabilities to Saudi Arabia following attacks claimed by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis.

Özel stressed that the government must present the agreement for debate and a vote in parliament’s defense and foreign affairs committees before sending it to the General Assembly.

“This is a very serious issue,” Özel said, criticizing the government for discussing deploying troops to Saudi Arabia amid continued escalation with Houthis.

“[The government] is giving promises for deploying troops. Article 92 of the Constitution explicitly requires parliamentary approval to send troops. In other words, even if the agreement is submitted, the approval of parliament is still necessary,” he said.

Özel said they will continue to keep this issue on the agenda to “push President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to show respect to parliament and the constitution.”