Ankara assessing its help to Saudi Arabia as part of Mecca agreement: FM Fidan

Türkiye is assessing how it can help Saudi Arabia counter ⁠attacks from ⁠Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militias as part of the Mecca Joint ⁠Defence Agreement signed between the two countries and Pakistan, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Thursday.

In his remarks, Fidan described the ⁠pact as ⁠a defensive agreement and not an offensive one.

Officials were working on what kind of contributions could be made particularly on ⁠air defenses, Fidan said, speaking at a joint news conference with his Hungarian counterpart in Ankara. He also ⁠added ‌that ‌the work to ⁠send the ‌text of the Mecca Pact to ⁠the Turkish ⁠parliament to be ratified ⁠was finalized.

"The necessary work for the agreement to be submitted to parliament has been completed," Fidan said at a joint news conference in Ankara with Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Anita Orban.

Fidan said the agreement provides for mutual defense if one of its signatories comes under attack.

"Once a country that is party to the agreement is attacked, you stand by it for its defense. This is not an attack agreement," he said.

He also clarified that the pact does not authorize Türkiye to deploy troops to another country's territory to carry out an attack.

Turning to the Russia-Ukraine war, Fidan warned against allowing the conflict to expand into the Black Sea.

"We must never allow the Black Sea to turn into a new front of conflict," he said.