Erdogan says Egypt could join Turkiye-Saudi-Pakistan defence pact

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Egypt could join a recently signed defence agreement between Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, describing the pact as open to additional members.

In an interview with Al Jazeera’s Arabic programme Al Muqabala, to be broadcast Sunday evening, Erdogan said the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement requires the three signatories to respond collectively if any one of them comes under external attack.

He said Egypt’s possible participation was among the options being considered for expanding the agreement.

The pact, signed in the Saudi holy city of Mecca last Friday by Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, states that an armed attack against one member would be regarded as an attack against all three.

The provision has been compared by some analysts with NATO’s collective-defence principle under Article 5. Pakistani officials, however, have cautioned against portraying the agreement as equivalent to NATO or as being aimed at any particular country.

Erdogan also discussed regional tensions, including the situation around the Strait of Hormuz and conflicts in Syria, Gaza and Lebanon.

He said reopening the Strait of Hormuz was a priority for Ankara, arguing that keeping the strategic waterway closed was in no one’s interest.

The Turkish president praised Qatar for its role in mediation efforts aimed at ending fighting in the region.

On Syria, Erdogan said Turkiye would continue supporting efforts to establish stability and indicated that he planned to visit the country.

He also said Syrian Kurds should have “a share of peace and stability” and pledged that Turkiye would continue strengthening ties with Kurdish communities while protecting their rights across the region.

Regarding Gaza, Erdogan said Turkiye would not abandon the Palestinian territory and would take whatever steps were necessary to support its people.

He said Hamas was fulfilling its commitments in good faith, while Israel continued its military campaign.

Erdogan expressed concern over continued Israeli attacks in Lebanon and said he had discussed the need to end the conflict with US President Donald Trump during Trump’s recent visit to Turkiye. GeographicReference

He stressed that Washington has an important role to play in ending the fighting in Lebanon.

The Turkish leader also said Ankara would continue supporting Sudan and described his relationship with Sudanese Sovereignty Council chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan as good.

He said Turkiye’s relations with Libya remained stable and that Ankara would not abandon the North African country.

On Turkiye’s long-standing bid to join the European Union, Erdogan said the bloc did not appear willing to admit his country.

EU membership, he added, was no longer a priority for Ankara and Europe would ultimately be “the loser” because of that position.

Erdogan also said Trump had promised to resolve the issue of Turkiye’s access to F-35 fighter jets and that Ankara was waiting for the commitment to be fulfilled.

Turkiye was removed from the multinational F-35 programme in 2019 after acquiring Russia’s S-400 air defence system. Washington argued that the Russian system posed a potential threat to the security of the F-35 programme.

Trump said during a NATO summit in Ankara last month that his administration would lift sanctions imposed on Turkiye over the S-400 purchase and indicated that returning Ankara to the F-35 programme was something his administration would consider.

However, any potential F-35 sale still faces opposition in the US Congress, while a 2020 US law bars the Pentagon from transferring the aircraft to Turkiye as long as Ankara retains the S-400 system.

Source: Al Jazeera