Fidan Says Turkey Will Take No Offensive Role Under Its Defence Pact With Saudi Arabia
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Thursday that Turkey's role under its defence agreement with Saudi Arabia would be defensive, ruling out sending troops to attack from another country's territory, three days after the alliance agreed to move into implementation.
Turkey will not use its defence agreement with Saudi Arabia to take part in offensive operations, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Thursday, October 8. Speaking in Ankara at a joint appearance with his Hungarian counterpart Anita Orban, Fidan said Turkey's role would be defensive and that the agreement was being prepared for submission to the Turkish parliament.
"Turkey will not send troops to another country's territory and carry out an attack there," Fidan said, according to Independent Türkçe. Reuters, which reported the remarks under the headline that Ankara was weighing defence support for Saudi Arabia, gave the same account of their substance.
What the alliance agreed in Riyadh
The comments come three days after a decision that put the pact on an operational footing. On Sunday, October 5, the strategic, political and defence committee of the Makkah Alliance for Defense, which groups Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey, held an emergency meeting in Riyadh following attacks on the kingdom. In a joint statement published by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the three countries said they had agreed to move into implementation, including the rapid deployment of agreed capabilities, in accordance with each country's national law.
Israel News Pulse reported on that decision when the committee met. According to Reuters, the pact itself was signed in August.
Defensive, not withdrawn
Fidan's remarks narrow how Turkey intends to act inside the alliance rather than signal any retreat from it. The joint statement commits Ankara, alongside Riyadh and Islamabad, to deploying agreed capabilities quickly; the foreign minister's words rule out an offensive purpose for Turkish forces on foreign soil. The quoted sentence excludes attacks from another country's territory; it does not exclude every possible deployment of Turkish personnel abroad.
Which Turkish capabilities have been offered, and whether any units or personnel have already been sent to Saudi Arabia, has not been made public. The full text of the agreement has not been released either.
Parliament still has to vote
Under Turkish procedure, the agreement must be approved by the Grand National Assembly before it is ratified. Reuters reported that parliament had not yet ratified it, and Fidan said the submission was being prepared. No date for a vote has been announced. Turkey's constitution also requires parliamentary authorisation before the armed forces are sent abroad, which gives the clause on acting in accordance with national law particular weight in Ankara.
For Israel, the alliance links three of the region's largest militaries, including nuclear armed Pakistan and a Turkey whose government has been sharply hostile to Israel since the October 7 attack. How Ankara defines its role, and what the parliamentary text says when it is tabled, will show how far Turkey is prepared to commit its forces under the Makkah framework.
