President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said a new defense agreement between Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan reflects a “grave historical responsibility” to help secure the Middle East, while insisting the pact is not directed against any country.
“The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement is the fruit of this understanding; it goes beyond being a mere consensus among the three countries to become an initiative for us to assume a grave historical responsibility in achieving stability for the region and providing security and safety for its sisterly and friendly peoples,” Erdoğan said in written responses to questions from Asharq Al-Awsat.
He said the defense deal, signed with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week, should not be viewed simply as a response to rising tensions between the United States and Iran.
The agreement marked a first step toward greater regional ownership of security and could eventually expand to include other countries, he added.
Erdoğan said regional countries had to take greater responsibility for their own security, arguing that “no one knows the issues of the region better than its own nations and peoples.” He said Türkiye would continue to assume its responsibilities and pursue diplomatic efforts to strengthen peace and stability.
The agreement is based on collective defense, with a threat to one signatory considered a security threat to the others, Erdoğan said, but stressed that its purpose was primarily deterrence and regional stability rather than military confrontation.
“The primary goal of this agreement is to enhance its deterrent dimension, fortify the security incentive of the parties by strengthening the spirit of solidarity among them, and protect regional stability,” he said.
Erdoğan also rejected the idea that the pact was an immediate reaction to tensions between Washington and Tehran.
“There is no doubt that the rising tension between the U.S. and Iran poses a danger to developments in the region,” he said, adding that reducing the agreement to a response to that escalation would give an incorrect picture of Türkiye’s intentions.
He said the pact reaffirmed the right to self-defense under Article 51 of the U.N. Charter and was open to other “sisterly nations” that wanted to join.
Erdoğan also called for an immediate halt to Israeli attacks on Lebanon and said Syria had entered “a new phase” following years of war and instability.
“Our most important aspiration is for this phase to pave the way for a lasting peace, stability and the reconstruction of Syria,” he said.
Meanwhile, Erdoğan reiterated that Türkiye would not tolerate organizations or entities in northern Syria or elsewhere in the country that threaten Turkish national security.
“Just as Syria’s territorial integrity holds immense importance for us, Turkish national security carries the exact same level of importance,” he said.
On Lebanon, Erdoğan said the country’s sovereignty, political unity and territorial integrity must be preserved, and urged an end to Israeli military operations. He said ongoing ceasefire talks were a positive development.
He also linked regional security to global economic stability, particularly because of the importance of the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz to energy supplies and international trade.
Erdoğan said the countries of the region bore a “great responsibility” for maintaining the security of the waterway and called for restraint and diplomacy to restore the strait to a safe and stable condition.
