The top soldiers of the Mecca defense alliance meet in Riyadh in an urgent session to discuss ongoing aggression by Iran-backed Houthi groups attacking Saudi Arabia and ways to support the latter militarily.
The decision to gather Turkish, Pakistani and Saudi Arabian chiefs of general staff came after the alliance’s foreign ministers met in New York on Sept. 24.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud discussed the recent escalation in the region as Yemen’s Houthi rebels continued their attacks on critical Saudi targets.
The Makkah Alliance operates on the principle that an attack against one member is an attack against all, reminiscent of NATO’s Article 5.
In line with this principle, Türkiye’s Chief of General Staff Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu traveled to Saudi Arabia to attend a meeting with his counterparts, the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Sept. 25.
The meeting in New York addressed continued efforts for the institutionalization of the Mecca Defense Alliance as well as regional developments, according to statements made by partner states.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry said the meeting was held within the framework of the agreement signed on Aug. 7 by three founding states, where the three member states condemned the recent Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia and discussed arrangements to convene an “urgent meeting of the chiefs of staff of the three countries” to support the Gulf state within the pact.
“They commended the vigilance of the Saudi armed forces and their ability to defend the kingdom’s security,” the statement said, adding that Saudi Arabia held the right to take measures “it deems appropriate” in self-defense.
It added that the three sides reviewed progress on the establishment of the general secretariat, committees and working groups, as well as “preparations for the commencement of their activities.”
